u 


FEB  5  1916 


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BS  2505  .D8  1911 
Dudley,  Carl  Hermon. 

St.  Paul's  friendships 

his  friends 


Dm 


and 


St.  Paul's  Friendships 
and  His  Friends 


BY 


CARL    HERMON     DUDLEY 


Author  of  ''And  This  Is    War" 


BOSTON 

RICHARD    G.    BADGER 

THE  GORHAM  PRESS 

1911 


COPYRIGHT  191 1  BY  CARL  HERMON  DUDLEY 


All  Rights  Reserved 


THE  GORHAM  PRESS,  BOSTON,  U.  S.  A. 


TO 

MY   SISTER 

SARAH    DUDLEY    ROBBINS 

Without  whose  help,  inspiration 

and  encouragement  in  years  that 

have  fled,  this  little  book  could 

never  have  been  written 


In  far  off  days  thy  hopes  were  high 

But  to  thy  dreams  thou  saidst  goodbye 

For  an  orphaned  brood  claimed  toilsome  days 

Of  a  spirit  framed  for  stateliest  ways 

But  now  they  haste  with  glad  acclaim 

To  crown  each  victory  with  thy  name 


FOREWORD 

OMITTING  the  names  of  Peter  and  John,  the 
friends  of  Paul  were  men  of  far  higher 
ability  and  culture  than  the  rest  of  the 
Twelve.  As  far  as  the  New  Testament  rec- 
ords permit  us  to  judge,  their  lives  and  labors  were 
more  closely  interwoven  with  the  great  world- 
stream  of  early  Christian  achievement  and  triumphs. 
By  this  is  meant  that  movement  of  Christianity 
in  Apostolic  times  whereby,  instead  of  continuing  a 
mere  Jewish  sect  of  Judea  and  Galilee,  it  swept 
first  northward  to  Antioch  where  it  became  Gentile 
and  Missionary;  then  westward  through  Asia  Minor, 
everywhere  establishing  churches  and  planting  gar- 
risons; then  crossed  the  Hellespont  and  overran 
Macedonia  and  Greece,  and  about  the  same  time 
reached  Rome  where  it  became  the  religion  of  all 
civilized  nations  and  races — cosmopolitan,  imperial, 
universal.  In  this  victorious  march  of  Christianity 
from  the  gates  of  Antioch  to  the  gates  of  the  Impe- 
rial City,  St.  Paul  was  the  Commander-in-Chief,  his 
friends  the  Field  Marshals  and  Corps  Commanders. 

While  it  would  not  be  at  all  fair  or  defensible  to 
assume  that  the  work  of  the  lesser  nine  of  the 
Apostles  of  our  Lord  was  of  small  moment,  yet  very 
little  is  definitely  known  about  their  labors  and 
achievements. 

Here,  then,  is  a  strange  anomaly.  We  are  per- 
fectly familiar  with  the  names  of  the  Twelve,  and 
yet  have  only  the  vaguest  information  concerning 
their  services  to  Christianity.     On  the  other  hand 


6  FOREWORD 

the  New  Testament  furnishes  us  many  references  to 
the  services  of  Paul's  friends,  but  still  the  names  of 
the  great  majority  of  these  fall  strangely  on  our 
ears.  We  deeply  regret  our  scanty  knowledge  of 
the  after  lives  of  the  Twelve;  but  we  ourselves  are 
wholly  to  blame  if  we  know  nothing  about  the  names 
and  labors  of  the  friends  of  St.  Paul. 

Shall  we  not,  then,  be  introduced  to  them  one  by 
one  ?  If  so,  we  shall  meet  men  well  worth  knowing  ; 
and  also  at  the  same  time  get  a  new  insight  into  the 
deeper  things  of  Paul's  own  heart,  which  we  can 
gain  in  no  other  way.  Likewise  we  shall  acquire 
new  outlooks  and  vantage  points  whereby  to  con- 
template and  measure  his  transcendent  genius. 

It  but  remains  for  me  gratefully  to  acknowledge 
my  deep  indebtedness  to  my  former  instructor  in 
New  Testament,  Prof.  James  S.  Riggs,  D.  D.,  of 
Auburn  Theological  Seminary,  and  to  my  classmate 
of  the  same  institution.  Rev.  Harry  Lathrop  Reed, 
D.  D.,  Professor  of  New  Testament  Language  and 
Criticism,  both  of  whom  carefully  read  the  manu- 
script of  this  work  and  gave  me  invaluable  sugges- 
tions and  criticisms  by  which  I  was  guided  in  the 
final  revision. 

CARL  HERMON  DUDLEY, 


CONTENTS 

Chapter  Page 

Foreword 5 

I    Paul's  Genius  for  Friendship 9 

II    Barnabas — The  Discoverer  of  St.  Paul  23 

III  John  Mark  —  The  Man   Who  Forfeited 

AND  Afterwards  Regained  the  Con- 
fidence OF  St.  Paul 51 

IV  Silas  —  The  Man  St.  Paul  First  Trained 

in  Missionary  Work 71 

V    Timothy  —  Paul's  Best  Loved  Friend...  87 

VI    Luke  —  The  Biographer  of  Paul   112 

VII    Aquila    and    Priscilla — Paul's  Fellow 

Craftsmen  and  Fellow  Evangelists.  138 

VIII  Apollos — The  Man  Whose  Career 
Proves  There  Was  No  Jealously  in 
Paul's  Friendships    153 

IX     Titus — The   Most    Efficient    of    Paul's 

Friends 174 

X     Aristarchus  —  Paul's  Friend   Who  Was 

But  His  Friend 187 

XI    Epaphras  —  Paul's  Fellow  Servant  and 

Fellow  Prisoner   194 


CONTENTS 

Chapter  Page 

XII  Epaphroditus  —  Paul's  Friend  Who 
Counted  Not  His  Life  Dear  Unto 
Himself    202 

XIII  Onesimus  —  The    Highest     Example     of 

THE  Transforming  Power  of  Friend- 
ship WITH  St.    Paul    211 

XIV  Philemon  —  A  Slaveholder  Whom  Paul 

Dared  Appeal  to  in   the  Name  of 
Friendship 220 

XV  Tychicus  —  Minister  of  Christ  and  Mes- 
senger OF  St.  Paul 2o6 

XVI     Onesiphorus  —  A  Friend  Who  Was  Not 

Ashamed  of  Paul's  Chain    246 

XVII  Postscript  —  A  Last  Glance  at  Chris- 
tianity's Imperial  Friend  and  Em- 
pire Builder 255 

Appendix    273 


Saint   Paul's    Friendships 
and  His  Friends 

CHAPTER  I 

PauVs  Genius  for  Friendship 

FOR  1900  years  the  Christian  world  has 
looked  up  to  Paul  as  a  unique  and  inspired 
personality.  Men  have  studied,  admired, 
marvelled,  at  his  manysidedness.  They 
have  analyzed  his  varied  gifts, — mental,  moral,  and 
spiritual.  They  have  tried  to  estimate  his  influence 
as  a  world  force.  They  have  endeavored  to  con- 
ceive what  Christianity  would  be  like  today  had  he 
never  lived  or  never  been  converted;  and  they  have 
staggered  at  the  appalling  conception.  Uncounted 
volumes  have  been  put  forth  in  every  civilized  lan- 
guage dealing  with  special  aspects  of  his  career. 
Men  have  studied  him  as  persecutor  and  preacher, 
as  pastor  and  orator;  they  have  studied  him  as 
author  and  theologian,  as  missionary  and  martyr.  It 
would  be  difficult  to  discover  anything  new  to  say 
on  any  of  these  phases  of  his  career.  It  would  be 
well-nigh  impossible  to  say  anything  on  them  better 
than  has  already  been  done.  But  not  yet,  even  with 
all  that  has  been  said  and  written  for  1900  years,  has 
the  world,  in  my  judgment,  sufficiently  recognized 
Paul's  geuius  for  friendship. 

While  nearly  all  writers  have  touched  upon  this- 
phase  of  his  character,  yet  none,  as  far  as  I  know,. 

9 


10  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

has  devoted  an  entire  volume  to  its  discussion;  nor 
in  what  they  have  said  on  the  topic  have  they  lifted 
it  to  the  summit  to  which  its  inherent  worth  and 
significance  entitle  it.  They  have  treated  his  genius 
for  friendship  as  only  one  among  the  manifold 
phases  of  his  character.  It  is  such,  and  also  is  some- 
thing more  besides.  A  careful  study  of  Paul's 
friendships  and  a  just  estimate  of  their  rightful  sig- 
nificance to  him  personally,  and  their  place  in  his 
career  during  his  life  and  after  his  death,  sets  before 
us  the  totality  of  the  man,  and  his  statesmanship  as 
an  organizer  of  churches  and  as  one  of  the  founders 
of  Christianity,  as  perhaps  nothing  else  can. 

Probably  the  average  Bible  student  thinks  of  Paul 
in  almost  any  other  light  than  as  the  great  type  of 
human  friend.  In  short,  the  world  is  wont  to  depre- 
ciate the  humanity  of  the  great  Apostle.  He  is  set 
on  a  pedestal  apart  from  the  every  day  feelings  and 
emotions.  If  not  regarded  as  originally  devoid  of 
such,  yet  it  seems  to  be  felt  that  the  overmastering 
sway  of  his  great  mission  in  life  dwarfed,  or  at  least 
suppressed,  the  activity  of  his  feelings  as  a  man 
among  his  fellow  men.  He  is  often  regarded  as 
entirely  "other  worldly."  It  is  thought  by  many, 
and  not  infrequently  boldly  stated,  that  he  lightly 
esteemed  the  domestic  relations,  if,  in  fact,  he  did 
not  put  a  stigma  upon  marriage  itself.  None  would 
challenge  his  supreme  love  for  Christ.  Perhaps 
none  would  deny  that  he  loved  men  for  the  sake  of 
their  souls;  but  it  is  apparently  believed  by  many 
that  he  loved  them  for  the  sake  of  their  souls  only, 


PAUL'S  GENIUS  FOR  FRIENDSHIP        11 

that  he  did  not  love  them  for  their  own  sakes.  The 
general  view  would  appear  to  be  that  his  interest  in 
men  as  men  went  no  farther  than  his  desire  to  snatch 
them  as  brands  from  the  burning.  Of  course  there 
are  many  significant  exceptions  to  this  estimate  of 
the  Apostle;  but  I  hazard  the  opinion  that  this  is 
the  average  lay  conception  of  his  outlook  upon  men 
and  life. 

Nothing  could  do  Paul  a  greater  injustice.  No 
man  ever  loved  his  fellows  more  passionately  for 
their  own  sakes.  He  loved  men  as  men.  No  man 
in  all  Scripture  had  so  many  personal  friends  as  St. 
Paul.  None  in  all  Scripture  gave  expression  to  such 
intense  affection  for  his  friends.  None  had  friends 
among  such  varied  nationalities,  nor  from  such 
extremes  of  social  gradations.  None  called  forth 
such  answering  love,  nor  evoked  such  unselfish  hero- 
ism and  sacrifice. 

The  contemplation  of  this  aspect  of  his  life  human- 
izes our  view  of  his  imperial  character;  puts  him 
on  a  plane  of  sympathy  and  feeling  with  our  com- 
mon humanity;  and,  at  the  same  time,  exalts  our 
conception  of  his  genius.  Such  a  study  will  mag- 
nify our  appreciation  of  Paul  in  four  particulars. 

I 

7^  Will  Reveal  to  Us  the  Intensity  of  His  Domestic 
Affections 

That  Paul  was  never  married  is  the  almost  univer- 
sal assumption.  The  reason  is  generally  believed  to 
be  his  coldness  toward  the  marriage  state  and  domes- 


12  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

tic  relationships.  In  my  opinion  nothing  could  be 
farther  from  the  truth.  I  believe  he  was  in  many- 
ways  one  of  the  most  lonely-hearted  men  that  ever 
lived.  Whether  he  ever  distinctly  analyzed  the 
feeling  or  not,  I  believe  his  yearning  for  home  and 
fireside  was  great  beyond  words.  I  believe  few  men 
ever  lived  who  were  capable  of  lavishing  a  tenderer 
affection  upon  wife  and  children  and  home.  I 
regard  his  abstinence  from  marriage  as  one  of  his 
supreme  sacrifices  for  the  cross  of  Christ,  one  of  the 
things  included  in  his  general  statement  where  he 
uses  this  language  concerning  his  devotion  to  Christ 
— ''for  whom  I  have  suffered  the  loss  of  all  things." 
That  Paul  thoroughly  considered  the  question  of 
his  own  marriage  is  evidenced  to  me  by  his  ques- 
tion— ''Have  not  we  the  right  to  lead  about  a  wife 
that  is  a  believer,  even  as  the  rest  of  the  Apostles, 
and  the  brethren  of  the  Lord,  and  Cephas?  Or  I 
only  and  Barnabas,  have  we  not  a  right  to  forbear 
working?"  From  these  questions  several  conclu- 
sions may  safely  be  drawn:  that  the  other  Apostles 
were  married,  and  their  wives  accompanied  them  on 
their  missionary  journeys;  and  that  at  times  they 
rested  from  their  labors,  probably  for  domestic 
reasons  of  some  kind ;  that  Paul  did  not  impeach  the 
right  of  others  to  marry  and  rest  at  times  at  home; 
that  he  claimed  the  same  privileges  for  himself; 
that  he  seriously  considered  taking  the  step,  but 
finally  voluntarily  exercised  the  higher  right  of  lay- 
ing aside  all  thought  of  home  and  domestic  affection 
for  the  sake  of  completer  devotion  to  his  great  com- 


PAUL'S  GENIUS  FOR  FRIENDSHIP        13 

mission.  He  thus  became  one  of  that  class  to  whom 
Christ  referred  when  he  said,  speaking  about  some 
refraining  from  marrying — "Not  all  can  receive  this 
saying,  but  they  to  whom  it  is  given."  Paul  was 
one  "to  whom  it  was  given." 

There  would  appear  to  be  two  specific  reasons 
why  Paul  made  the  great  sacrifice  of  foregoing 
domestic  ties.  One  was  the  belief  which  he  seems 
to  have  held,  at  least  in  the  earlier  years  of  his 
ministry,  that  Christ  would  speedily  return  to  earth, 
and  that  the  whole  world  ought  to  be  evangelized 
before  that  great  event ;  and,  therefore,  nothing, 
even  though  it  be  as  sacred  as  family  relations, 
should  be  permitted  to  interfere  in  the  least  with  a 
man's  giving  every  ounce  of  his  strength,  every 
thought  of  his  mind,  and  every  throb  of  his  heart 
to  the  proclamation  of  the  Gospel  to  those  who  had 
never  heard  it.  The  other  reason  for  his  abstinence 
from  marriage,  though  I  deem  it  less  decisive  than 
the  above,  was  the  continual  hardships  and  persecu- 
tions to  which  missionaries  were  subjected  and  his 
certainty  that  marriage  would  entail  these  same 
upon  wives  and  children ;  and,  therefore,  it  was  bet- 
ter for  both  men  and  women  to  remain  single. 

We  may  now  consider  how  Paul's  friendships 
reveal  to  us  the  intensity  of  his  domestic  affections 
and  the  gnawing  emptiness  which  lack  of  home  and 
wife  and  children  made  in  his  great  yearning 
heart.  We  are  made  aware  of  all  this  by  the  terms 
of  domestic  relationships  and  endearments  which  he 
lavished  upon  his  friends.     The  mother  of  Rufus  he 


14  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

called  his  mother;  Phebe  was  his  sister;  Qiiartus, 
Sosthenes,  ApoUos,  Tychicus,  Epaphroditus,  and 
Philemon  were  his  brothers;  Timothy,  Titus,  and 
Onesimus  were  his  ''own"  sons;  the  Galatian  Chris- 
tians were  his  ''little  children"  and  he  "travailed 
for  them  in  birth";  he  was  as  "gentle"  among  the 
Thessalonians  "  as  a  nurse  cherishing  her  children ' ' ; 
he  "exhorted  and  comforted  and  charged"  them  "as 
a  father  doth  his  children";  as  his  "beloved  sons" 
he  warned  the  Corinthians,  for  though  they  might 
"have  ten  thousand  instructors  in  Christ"  yet  they 
could  not  have  "many  fathers",  and  he  had  "begot- 
ten" them  through  the  Gospel  and  like  a  father  was 
"jealous"  over  them  and  wanted  to  "espouse  them 
as  a  chaste  virgin — to  one  husband,  even  Christ." 

And  so  the  great  Apostle  with  his  empty  home- 
loving  heart  transformed  his  friends  into  mothers, 
sisters,  brothers,  sons  and  daughters;  and  himself 
into  a  father,  a  mother,  and  a  nurse, — ^begetting 
children,  travailing  in  birth,  caring  for  children  in 
their  infancy,  giving  daughters  in  marriage,  sending 
sons  out  into  the  world  with  a  father's  warnings, 
counsel,  and  blessing. 

Let  none,  then,  dare  rise  and  charge  Paul  with 
coldness  toward  marriage  and  home. 

II 

In  the  Second  Place  the  Consideration  of  Paul  as  a 
Friend  Bears  Witness  to  the  Cosmopolitanism  of 
His  Social  Sympathies  arid  Charm 

There  are  few  men  whose  friends  have  been  chosen 


PAUL'S  GENIUS  FOR  FRIENDSHIP        15 

from  such  a  wide  range  of  races,  nationalities,  age, 
sex,  occupation,  and  social  gradations  as  were  Paul's. 
Perhaps  no  man  ever  had  an  intenser  love  for  his 
own  race  and  nation  than  did  he.     He  gloried  in  the 
fact  that  he  was  a  Hebrew  of  the  Hebrews,  of  the 
tribe  of  Benjamin,  and  of  the  seed  of  Abraham.     He 
tells  us  that  his  heart's  desire  and  prayer  to  God 
for  Israel  was  that  they  might  be  saved.     Once  in 
his  zeal  for  her  salvation  he  reached  a  climax  of 
self-abnegation  attained  by  only  one  other  man  in  all 
Scripture,   and  that  man  was  Moses  when,  in  his 
prayer  for  this  rebellious  people,  he  used  this  lan- 
guage— "Yet  now,  if  thou  wilt  forgive  their  sin, — 
and  if  not,  blot  me,  I  pray  thee,  out  of  the  book 
which  thou  hast  written."      Paul's  self-crucifying 
love  for  this  same  people  found  expression  in  a  very 
similar  outburst  of  expression  when  he  wrote — *'I 
say  the  truth  in  Christ,  I  lie  not,  my  conscience  also 
bearing  me  witness  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  I  have 
great  heaviness  and  continual  sorrow  of  heart.     For 
I  could  wish  myself  accursed  from  Christ  for  my 
brethren,  my  kinsmen  according  to  the  flesh:  who 
are  Israelites ;  to  whom  pertaineth  the  adoption,  and 
the  glory,  and  the  covenants,  and  the  giving  of  the 
law,  and  the  service  of  God,  and  the  promises. ' '  Note 
the  solemn  thrice  repeated  asseveration  in  the  first 
three   clauses.     And   yet   despite   all  this  patriotic 
ardor  of  the  Apostle,  his  friends  were  chosen  indis- 
criminately from  the  three  dominant  races  of  his 
day, — ^Hebrew,  Greek  and  Latin. 


16  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

Nor  were  his  friendships  confined  to  any  one  city 
or  country.  We  find  them  among  all  cities  and 
nations  from  the  Holy  City  of  Jerusalem  to  Imperial 
Rome  herself.  He  had  friends  at  Antioch,  Tyre, 
Damascus,  Lystra,  Ephesus,  Derbe,  Berea,  Thessa- 
lonica,  Philippi,  Athens,  Colossae,  Corinth,  and 
Cenchrea.  His  friends  were  also  found  scattered 
throughout  the  countries  of  Judea,  Galilee,  Syria, 
Galatia,  Macedonia,  Greece,  and  Italy;  and  in  the 
isles  of  Cyprus  and  Melita. 

The  friendships  of  some  men  are  largely  confined 
to  those  of  about  their  own  age.  Paul  numbered 
among  his  friends  some  old  enough  to  be  his  parents, 
and  others  young  enough  to  be  his  children.  Many 
men  confine  their  friendships  to  men  only,  Paul's 
included  men  and  women  alike. 

Some  find  their  intimates  exclusively  among  those 
of  their  own  handicraft  or  profession,  Paul  found 
his  among  men  of  every  calling.  In  the  list  of  his 
friends  we  find  the  names  of  missionaries  like  Silas 
and  Barnabas;  ministers  like  Archippus  and 
Epaphras ;  prophets  like  Agabus ;  Apostles  like  Peter, 
James,  and  John;  evangelists  like  Philip;  officials 
such  as  Erastus  the  Chamberlain  of  Corinth,  and 
Publius  the  chief  man  of  Melita;  rulers  of  syna- 
gogues like  Crispus;  soldiers  like  Julius  the  centu- 
rion; tentmakers  like  Aquila  and  Priscilla;  jailers 
like  the  Philippian;  authors  like  Mark  and  Luke; 
slaveholders  like  Philemon;  slaves  like  Onesimus; 
lawyers  like  Zenas;  physicians  like  Luke;  and  cap- 
tains of  ships  like  the  one  who  commanded  when  he 


PAUL'S  GENIUS  FOR  FEIENDSHIP        17 

was  carried  a  prisooer  to  Rome.  Few  have  made 
friends  of  a  wider  divergence  of  callings  and  inter- 
ests, or  won  to  themselves  such  a  strangely  assorted 
group  of  men. 

All  this  goes  to  prove,  if  proof  were  necessary, 
that  Paul's  zeal  in  behalf  of  his  mission  to  the  Gen- 
tiles and  his  championship  of  their  rights  and  privi- 
leges in  Christ  and  in  the  church,  was  no  mere  pro- 
fessional function  on  his  part.  It  proves  that  he 
loved  men  as  men  wherever  he  found  them,  and 
whatever  their  race  or  station  in  life. 

Ill 

The  Third  Phase  of  the  Apostle^s  Greatness  Which  Is 
Best  Exemplified  by  a  Study  of  His  Friendships 
Is  the  Enduring  Loyalty  by  Which  He  Bound 
Others  to  Himself  and  to  His  Life  Mission 

We  have  just  seen  how  he  made  friends  with  men 
of  every  land,  race,  and  calling.  That  would  be  con- 
ceivably possible  without  his  awakening  an  equal 
affection  on  their  part.  But  this  was  not  the  case; 
his  friends  loved  him  with  the  same  intensity  and 
ardor  as  he  them.  What  power  of  heart  must  the 
man  have  had,  what  charm  and  attractiveness,  to 
bind  such  diverse  elements  to  himself  with  cords 
of  love  that  no  sacrifice  could  sever  or  hardship 
weaken.  And  what  makes  this  the  more  remark- 
able is  the  fact  that  he  had  nothing  to  give  them 
except  himself,  his  hope  in  the  Gospel,  and  a  share 
in  his  labors  and  dangers.     Again  what  a  testimony 


18  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

is  this  to  his  genius  for  friendship  and  to  the  innate 
or  acquired  nobility  of  his  friends. 

Linking  their  lives  to  Paul's  could  bring  them 
neither  wealth,  nor  social  position,  nor  political  influ- 
ence. On  the  contrary  it  meant  precisely  the  oppo- 
site of  these  things.  They  lived  in  an  age  abnor- 
mally devoted  to  the  quest  of  riches,  power,  military 
fame,  and  sensual  indulgence.  Paul's  friendship 
was  a  trumpet  blast  summoning  men  away  from  aU 
these.  His  friends  heard  that  trumpet  blast — and 
they  were  not  disobedient.  Many  of  them  were  men 
of  marked  ability  which  would  have  given  them  high 
success  as  the  world  defines  success.  Yet  despite  all 
temptations  to  ungodliness  and  unbelief,  despite  all 
social  ostracism  and  persecution,  they  heard  the 
voice  of  a  mighty  friendship  calling  them,  and  they 
answered  with  their  all. 

The  elements  of  personal  affection  and  tenderness 
which  entered  into  all  the  various  friendships  of  the 
Apostle  can  only  be  hinted  at  here.  How  his  heart 
overflowed  with  joy  when  he  greeted  some  friend 
back  safe  and  sound  from  a  long  absence!  How 
feverishly  restless  and  anxious  he  was  when  sepa- 
rated from  a  friend,  even  if  only  for  a  short  time! 
What  pulsating  words  he  wrote  about  his  longing 
to  see  their  faces  again  that  they  might  comfort 
each  other!  How  he  and  they  wept  and  prayed  at 
parting!  What  sorrow  when  they  looked  forward 
to  meeting  no  more  on  earth !  What  beseeching  let- 
ters he  wrote  to  churches,  imploring  them  to  deal 
kindly  with  his  friends !    What  terms  of  endearment 


PAUL'S  GENIUS  FOR  FRIENDSHIP        19 

he  lavished  upon  those  whom  his  great  love  crowned 
with  friendship 's  holy  name ! 

IV 

The  Fourth  Thing  We  Note  in  Considering  PauVs 
Friendships  Is  the  Manner  in  Which  These 
Underscore  Our  Appreciation  of  His  Intellectual 
Supremacy 

Nothing  else,  perhaps,  does  this  quite  so  effectually. 
"We  are  accustomed  to  think  of  and  call  him  great. 
And  yet  this  has  become  so  trite  that  it  has  lost 
much  of  its  significance.  But  when  we  consider  his 
friendships  and  his  friends,  only  then  do  we  fully 
grasp  how  peerless  he  was. 

He  came  into  friendly  relations  with  all  the  master 
minds  of  the  first  generation  of  the  Christian  Era. 
How  he  dwarfs  them  all  intellectually!  Not  by 
pushing  himself  forward,  but  by  sheer  inherent  abil- 
ity he  everywhere  and  in  all  company  speedily 
became  the  leader  of  leaders.  None  among  the  orig- 
inal Apostles  can  be  compared  to  him  for  sweep  of 
thought,  depth  of  reasoning,  or  breadth  of  learning ; 
nor  for  daring  adventure  and  constructive  states- 
manship of  purpose  and  achievement. 

He  came  into  contact  and  closest  friendship  with 
such  authors  as  Mark  and  Luke,  but  his  own  literary 
fame  remains  undimmed.  In  oratory  he  had  such 
friendly  rivals  as  the  gracious  Barnabas  and  the 
brilliant  Apollos,  but  his  own  fame  in  this  particular 
field  is  more  resplendent  than  that  of  either.  Titus 
was  a  great  organizer,  but  PauPs  achievements  so 


20  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

far  surpass  those  of  Titus,  or  of  any  other  man  of 
the  age,  as  to  make  comparison  out  of  the  question. 
Timothy  was  a  great  pastor  but  his  work  in  this 
line,  if  compared  with  Paul's,  pales  like  moonlight 
before  the  rising  sun.  Silas  was  a  great  missionary, 
but  his  work  is  all  but  forgotten  as  men  gaze  upon 
the  monolithic  glory  of  Paul's  achievements.  Philip 
was  a  great  evangelist,  but  his  deeds  are  almost 
wholly  obscured  by  the  far-shining  victories  of  Paul. 

All  these  friends  of  the  Apostle  were  men  of  great 
gifts  in  a  particular  field,  gifts  which  would  have 
secured  their  fame  for  all  time  had  they  never  come 
into  contact  and  comparison  with  a  greater  than 
they.  Paul  surpassed  every  one  of  them,  even  in 
their  own  particular  specialty,  as  much  as  Napoleon 
did  his  Marshals. 

The  telling  of  the  story  of  Paul's  friendships  and 
a  study  of  the  careers  of  several  of  his  friends,  is 
amply  justified  by  what  has  already  been  said.  But 
all  that  has  preceded  bases  the  significance  of  this 
feature  of  the  Apostle's  character  and  career,  upon 
reasons  personal  to  Paul  himself.  The  story  also 
deserves  telling  for  the  sake  of  his  friends.  Paul 
we  already  know  pretty  thoroughly,  his  friends  we 
know  very  little :  with  some  of  them  we  have  a  bow- 
ing acquaintance;  others  we  know  by  sight;  still 
others  we  scarcely  know  even  by  name.  These 
things  ought  not  so  to  be.  Paul's  friends  were  good 
men  and  true;  in  many  ways,  great  men.  Some  of 
them  were  indispensable,  all  were  important  and 
useful.     They  had  a  part  to  play,  not  only  in  the 


PAUL'S  GENIUS  FOR  FRIENDSHIP        21 

career  and  affection  of  St.  Paul,  but  also  in  the 
founding  and  early  success  of  Christianity  itself. 
The  story  of  their  lives  and  friendship  with  the 
Apostle  is  not  told  merely  for  his  sake,  not  merely 
to  set  forth  the  beauty  and  world  significance  of 
ideal  friendship,  but  also  to  lift  their  names  up  out 
of  the  obscurity  into  which  they  have  been  thrown 
by  the  overshadowing  fame  of  Peter,  Paul,  and 
John;  to  show  the  eminent  part  they  played  as 
preachers,  pastors,  missionaries,  authors,  organizers, 
and  evangelists;  and  joint-founders  of  Gentile 
churches,  joint-conquerors  of  Europe  for  Christ,  and 
joint-founders  of  Christianity  itself. 

The  significance  of  their  relation  to  St.  Paul,  apart 
from  personal  love  and  friendship,  falls  into  three 
divisions,  each  of  which  will  be  duly  amplified  in 
subsequent  chapters.  All  that  is  required  at  this 
time  is  simply  to  state  each  of  the  three  in  as  few 
words  as  possible. 

1.  Humanly  speaking,  it  was  one  of  Paul's 
friends  who,  several  years  after  his  conversion,  gave 
him  his  first  opportunity  effectively  to  engage  in  his 
life  work. 

2.  During  his  entire  ministry  his  friends  were 
continually  as  his  right  arm.  Never  as  far  as  we 
know  did  he  labor  with  marked  success  any  great 
length  of  time  without  the  companionship  of  one  or 
more  of  his  intimate  friends.  None  of  his  great 
churches  was  founded  without  the  assistance  of  his 
friends.  Never  did  he  undertake  a  great  missionary 
journey    alone,    though    he    may    have    done    some 


22  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

evangelistic  work  at  Tarsus  and  in  Cilicia  before  his 
call  to  Antioch. 

3.  So  efficient  did  his  friends  become  through  his 
example,  influence,  and  training,  and  by  their  own 
diligence,  fidelity,  and  natural  ability,  that  after  his 
death  the  work  of  Christianity  went  on  without 
break  or  pause  in  any  church  or  field. 

And  so  for  the  sake  of  a  just  appreciation  of  the 
greatness  of  Paul's  heart  and  mind,  and  for  the 
sake  of  a  better  acquaintance  with  men  personally 
well  worth  knowing,  and  a  juster  estimate  of  their 
indispensable  services, — it  seems  to  me  that  the  story 
of  Paul's  friendships  and  his  friends  deserves  a 
little  volume  all  by  itself. 


CHAPTER  II 

Barnabas — The  Discoverer  of  St.  Paul 


The  story  of  Barnabas 's  career  is  contained  in  the 
following  passages :— Acts  4 :36-37,  9 :26-27,  11 :22-30, 
12:25,  13:1-52,  14:1-28,  15:1-39,  1  Cor.  9:4-6,  Gal. 
2:1-13,  Col.  4:10. 


IT  scarcely  need  be  stated  that,  in  order  of  time» 
the  first  eminent  friend  of  Paul  whose 
acquaintance  we  should  make,  is  Barnabas. 
Not  alone  for  chronological  reasons,  however, 
but  for  many  others  as  well,  it  is  fitting  that  his 
name  stand  first  in  the  long  roll  of  honor. 

Perhaps  it  should  be  here  stated  that  in  these  little 
biographical  sketches  I  shall,  in  the  title  to  the  chap- 
ters, characterize  each  friend  of  Paul's  by  some 
descriptive  word  or  clause  which  will  bring  into 
prominence  a  leading  phase  of  his  relationship  to 
the  Apostle.  Only  after  I  had  decided  upon  the 
above  heading  for  our  study  of  Barnabas  did  I  find 
that  Stalker  in  his  ''Life  of  St.  Paul,"  had  used  the 
same  phrase,  so  I  hasten  to  acknowledge  his  priority. 

I 

Barnabas,  The  Man 

Of  the  early  life  of  Barnabas  and  of  when  and 
how  he  was  converted,  nothing  is  known.     There  is 

23 


24  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

a  vague,  unauthenticated  tradition  that  he  was  one 
of  the  "Seventy"  whom  our  Lord  sent  forth  on  an 
evangelistic  tour  during  his  own  earthly  ministry. 
But  the  fact  that  he  is  not  mentioned  in  any  of  the 
four  Gospels  makes  this  more  than  doubtful;  for  a 
man  of  his  ability  would  not  have  been  likely  to 
remain  in  the  background  had  he  been  personally 
associated  with  Christ.  Besides  this,  his  flaming 
zeal  when  we  first  make  his  acquaintance  in  the  Acts 
w^ould  lead  us  to  believe  that  he  was  a  new  convert, 
possibly  one  of  the  number  who  found  Christ  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost. 

We  first  find  Barnabas  at  Jerusalem  already  a 
Christian,  one  of  that  number  who,  in  those  early 
days,  having  possessions,  sold  them  and  laid  the 
money  at  the  Apostles'  feet.  This  gives  us  at  the 
start  something  of  an  insight  into  his  character.  His 
conversion  marked  the  consecration  of  his  all. 
Henceforth  he  himself  and  everything  he  possessed 
was  to  be  laid  on  the  altar  of  sacrifice.  In  this  con- 
nection we  are  informed  that  he  was  a  Levite,  a 
native  of  the  island  of  Cyprus;  and  the  inference 
is  that  his  wealth  was  considerable  and  his  social 
standing  high.  It  later  appears  that  he  was  a  man 
of  charming  physical  presence,  for  at  Lystra  when 
he  and  Paul  were  taken  for  gods  it  was  he  who  was 
called  Jupiter,  evidently  a  tribute  to  his  royal  and 
commanding  personality. 

This,  however,  was  but  one  of  his  minor  claims  to 
distinction.  In  the  graces  of  oratory  he  probably 
had  but   one   rival  amoni?   all  the   New   Testament 


BARNABAS  25 

preachers,  I  refer  to  Apollos.  So  remarkable  was 
his  eloquence  that  the  Apostles  themselves  surnamed 
him  ''Barnabas,"  that  is.  ''Son  of  Exhortation"  a 
name  which  was  immediately  and  universally  sub- 
stituted for  that  of  Joses  by  which  he  was  originally 
known. 

To  magnificence  of  person  and  splendor  of  oratory 
were  joined  such  irreproachable  character  and  flam- 
ing zeal  that  their  possessor  became  at  once  one  of 
the  mightiest  forces  of  the  early  church.  It  is 
doubtful  if  Barnabas  has,  even  yet,  received  due 
recognition  for  his  indispensable  services  to  Chris- 
tianity. The  fame  of  Paul  has  so  far  overtopped  his 
own  that  few  measure  the  greatness  that  was  his,  or 
render  him  the  appreciation  they  should.  It  shall 
be  part  of  our  task  to  isolate  his  resplendent  name, 
count  up  his  services,  and  contemplate  the  greatness 
of  his  achievements.  In  doing  this  we  shall  but  ren- 
der him  his  due,  and,  at  the  same  time,  bring  still 
another  tribute  to  the  greatness  of  St.  Paul  himself, 
whose  genius  tends  to  dwarf  the  fame  of  the  eminent 
men  with  whom  he  labored,  and  whom,  as  friends,  he 
took  into  his  heart  of  hearts. 

II 

Barnahas's  Dominant  Characteristics  in  His  Relation 
to  Other  Men — The  Trust  He  Reposed  in  Them 
and  They  in  Him. 

This  might  be  called  the  keynote  to  his  character 
and  career.  It  appears  at  every  stage  of  his  life.  It 
was  this  which  made  him  a  marked  man.     It  was 


26  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

this  which  made  possible  his  splendid  services.  He 
acted  upon  this  principle  of  confidence  in  his  fellow 
men  when  the  grounds  for  so  doing  were  the  slight- 
est ;  at  times,  even,  when  it  seemed  unjustifiable,  nay 
more,  dangerous  to  himself  and  hazardous  to  the 
cause  for  which  he  stood.  Yet  trust  men  he  would 
and  did,  whatever  the  cost  to  himself,  whatever  the 
potential  menace  to  his  career ;  and  in  every  case  his 
judgment  and  confidence  were  justified  by  the  event. 
Thus  he  gave  other  men  their  opportunity  in  life, 
thus  made  Christianity  forever  debtor  to  the  mag- 
nanimity of  his  heart  and  splendor  of  his  moral 
courage. 

The  first  exhibition  of  this  confidence  he  had  in 
others  and  others  in  him,  was  manifested  when  Paul 
visited  Jerusalem  for  the  first  time  after  his  con- 
version. Already  Paul  had  attempted  to  preach  at 
Damascus,  but  had  speedily  been  driven  forth  from 
the  city.  Coming  down  to  Jerusalem  he  at  once 
endeavored  to  join  himself  to  the  little  Christian 
community  in  that  city.  But  every  person  in  it, 
including  the  Apostles  themselves,  were  afraid  of 
him  and  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  him.  It 
looked  for  a  time  as  though,  not  the  enemies  of  the 
Cross,  but  its  friends  and  defenders,  were  to  render 
impossible  the  entrance  of  the  new  convert  into  the 
Christian  fold  and  into  the  field  of  Christian  ser- 
vice. All  men  looked  askance  at  Paul.  They  sus- 
pected his  motives.  They  feared  his  designs.  The 
last  they  had  known  of  him  he  was  their  bitterest 
foe.     He  had  consented  unto  the  death  of  Stephen 


BARNABAS  27 

«,nd  had  gone  to  Damascus  breathing  forth  threat- 
enings  and  slaughter.  He  had  made  havoc  of  the 
<3hurch,  persecuting  its  members  even  unto  strange 
<jities,  compelling  them  to  blaspheme,  haling  them 
both  men  and  women  to  the  death. 

Now  they  would  not  trust  his  pretenses  to  having 
been  converted.  Never  should  the  wolf  which  had 
scattered  the  flock  be  admitted  to  the  inmost  fold 
itself.  Here  then  was  a  crisis  for  the  new  convert 
Paul.  His  word  was  disbelieved.  No  argument  he 
eould  use  convinced  the  Apostles  of  his  change  of 
heart  and  purpose.  Apparently  no  man  would  trust 
him.  Just  then  when  all  was  blackest,  when  every 
door  seemed  closed  in  his  face  forever,  Barnabas 
hears  of  the  matter.  He  seeks  out  Paul,  listens  to 
his  story,  believes  it  and  believes  in  Paul,  takes  the 
outcast  by  the  hand  and.  defying  public  opinion, 
boldly  declares  in  the  face  of  all  men  his  confidence 
in  the  fugitive  from  Damascus.  And  then  what  a 
change  took  place  in  public  opinion!  The  Apostles 
knew  Barnabas  and  believed  in  him,  and  on  his  mere 
word  they  received  into  their  company  and  took  to 
their  hearts  him  who  but  a  short  time  before  had 
been  their  deadliest  enemy.  What  a  tribute  to  Bar- 
nabas's  confidence  in  others  and  to  the  confidence  of 
others  in  him.  Thus  he  became  ''the  discoverer  of 
Paul"  the  Christian.  Later  we  shall  see  him  the 
discoverer  of  Paul  the  Preacher. 

Soon  after  this  another  occasion  arose  which  illus- 
trates the  confidence  the  Apostles  and  entire  Jerusa- 
lem church  had  in  Barnabas ;  a  confidence  both  in  his 


28  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

character  and  in  his  tact  and  ability.  "Now  they 
•which  were  scattered  abroad  upon  the  persecution 
that  arose  about  Stephen  travelled  as  far  as  Pheniee, 
and  Cyprus,  and  Antioch,  preaching  the  word  to 
none  but  unto  the  Jews  only.  And  some  of  them 
were  men  of  Cyprus  and  Cyrene,  which  when  they 
were  come  to  Antioch,  spake  unto  the  Grecians, 
preaching  the  Lord  Jesus.  And  the  hand  of  the 
Lord  was  with  them:  and  a  great  number  believed, 
and  turned  unto  the  Lord.  Then  tidings  of  these 
things  came  unto  the  ears  of  the  church  which  was 
in  Jerusalem." 

Now  that  piece  of  news  caused  a  sensation  among 
the  conservative  members  of  the  Jewish  Christian 
church.  They  were  always  exceedingly  watchful 
and  suspicious  of  any  movement  not  directly  under 
their  own  eye  and  supervision.  They  could  scarcely 
trust  the  independent  acts  of  their  own  most  capable 
leaders.  Whenever  they  heard  of  a  work  of  grace 
anywhere,  they  always  sent  an  investigating  com- 
mittee to  examine  and  report ;  or  else  summoned  the 
leader  or  leaders  of  such  a  movement  to  answer 
before  the  bar  of  their  judgment  seat. 

Philip,  one  of  the  deacons  they  themselves  had 
ordained,  later  preached  with  marked  success  down 
in  Samaria  and  conducted  a  great  revival  there. 
And  we  read  concerning  that  work:  ''Now  when 
the  Apostles  which  were  at  Jerusalem  heard  that 
Samaria  had  received  the  word  of  God,  they  sent 
unto  them  Peter  and  John."  Soon  after  this  Peter 
himself  received  into  the  Christian  fold  by  baptism 


BARNABAS  29 

the  Gentile  Cornelius  and  his  household,  and  again 
we  read:  "And  the  Apostles  and  brethren  that  were 
in  Judea  heard  that  the  Gentiles  had  also  received 
the  word  of  God.  And  when  Peter  was  come  up  to 
Jerusalem,  they  that  were  of  the  circumcision  con- 
tended with  him,  saying,  Thou  wentest  in  to  men 
uncircumcised,  and  didst  eat  with  them."  What 
wonder  then  that  there  was  almost  a  panic  when  the 
good  people  at  Jerusalem  not  only  heard  that  there 
was  a  revival  at  Antioeh  which  was  spreading 
among  the  Gentiles,  but  also  that  it  had  commenced 
and  was  going  forward  without  the  presence  or 
sanction  of  a  single  deacon  or  Apostle  from  the 
mother  church.  Something  must  be  done  and  done 
quickly.  What  mattered  it  if  they  did  know  that 
the  evangelists  were  *' preaching  the  Lord  Jesus," 
what  mattered  it  if  they  did  know  that  ' '  the  hand  of 
the  Lord  was  with  them,"  and  that  ''a  great  num- 
ber that  believed  turned  unto  the  Lord."  What 
mattered  all  this  when  the  revival  had  begun  with- 
out their  sanction,  and  was  continuing  without  their 
supervision. 

Things  must  not  go  on  like  that  a  moment  longer. 
Something  irregular  might  be  done,  and  what  com- 
pensation could  there  be  in  the  contemplation  of  a 
multitude  of  conversions  if  some  technical  rule  of 
order  had  been  violated,  or  if  the  supremacy  of  the 
Jerusalem  church  was  not  duly  recognized?  They 
must  forthwith  send  a  man  down  to  Antioeh  to  take 
immediate  charge  of  this  irregular  manifestation  of 
saving  grace,  to  guide,  and,  if  necessary,  curb  the 


30  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

intemperate  and  overwhelmingly  successful  zeal  of 
these  unknown  and  unauthorized  evangelists  from 
Cyprus  and  Cyrene  who  ^' spake  unto  the  Greeks- 
also." 

But  who  should  be  sent  on  such  a  momentous  mis- 
sion? Surely  their  most  trusted  member,  the  man 
of  greatest  force  of  character,  widest  knowledge  of 
men  and  affairs.  He  must  be  a  man  of  tact,  wisdom, 
and  firmness ;  one  who  thoroughly  understood  ortho- 
dox Christianity,  who  was  a  master  of  men  and 
affairs.  They  mast  make  no  mistake  here.  But 
who  should  be  their  choice?  what  man  of  their  num- 
ber had  the  indispensable  qualifications,  the  personal 
character  and  ability,  and  the  universal  confidence- 
of  the  church?  There  were  the  Apostles  and  Dea- 
cons, should  they  send  one  or  more  of  them?  This 
would  have  been  the  most  obvious  thing  to  do.  But 
evidently  none  of  these  had  all  of  the  necessary 
qualifications.  There  was  just  one  man  and  one  man 
only  who  filled  the  bill — and  that  man  was  Barnabas.. 
"What  a  tribute  was  this  to  this  man's  ability  and 
character.  Had  he  been  sent  along  as  a  subordinate- 
companion  with  Peter  or  John  or  Philip,  it  would 
have  been  an  eminent  distinction;  but  not  only  did 
the  choice  fall  on  him,  but  he  was  sent  alone  to- 
examine,  advise,  and  report. 

The  church  at  Jerusalem  made  no  mistake.  They 
never  made  a  wiser  move.  They  builded  better  than 
they  knew.  They,  by  that  one  act,  unconsciously 
made  all  Christian  centuries  their  debtors.  Barna- 
bas's  mission  to  Antioch  was  big  with  futurity.    A 


BARNABAS  31 

new  chapter  in  the  history  of  Christianity  and  of 
the  world  was  being  begun. 

As  soon  as  Barnabas  reached  Antioch  his  broad 
charity  and  keen  spiritual  insight  became  immedi- 
ately apparent.  He  was  able  to  perceive  at  once 
that  it  was  the  ''grace  of  God"  which  was  at  work, 
though  manifesting  itself  in  a  new  and  unexpected 
manner.  He  was  convinced  by  what  he  saw,  and 
rejoiced  in  it  all,  though  it  was  so  different  from 
anything  which  had  occurred  in  his  previous  experi- 
ence. Without  a  word  of  criticism,  without  the 
slightest  effort  to  assume  leadership,  he  immediately 
made  his  matchless  poAvers  of  eloquence  tributary  to 
the  success  of  the  all-conquering  sweep  of  the  great 
revival.  Nor  was  this  his  greatest  service  at  that 
crisis  hour;  rather,  great  as  it  was — and  great  it 
must  have  been — it  was  incomparably  less  than  the 
service  to  the  city  and  to  all  mankind  which  he  soon 
afterward  rendered. 

Barnabas  had  not  been  in  the  work  long  before 
two  things  were  borne  in  upon  him:  one  was  that 
there  was  no  occasion  for  a  speedy  return  and  report 
to  the  Jerusalem  church;  the  other  was  that,  com- 
petent as  were  the  present  leaders  of  the  revival,  the 
work  had  already  as  a  matter  of  actual  fact,  become 
so  far-reaching,  and  its  potentialities  so  great,  that 
there  was  not  only  room  for  other  workers  but 
imperative  demand  for  them.  There  were  Peter  and 
John  and  other  able  and  eminent  men  round  about 
Jerusalem  and  Judea.  It  would  be  natural  to  call 
upon  these.    But  much  as  Barnabas  admired  them- 


32  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

and  much  as  they  trusted  him,  he  knew  their  limita- 
tions only  too  well.  Whom  then  should  he  secure  to 
assist  him?  Who  could  measure  up  to  the  demands 
of  the  work  and  opportunity  ? 

It  was  the  judgment  of  Barnabas  that  there  was 
just  one  man  in  all  the  world  who  could  best  serve 
his  needs  and  the  demands  of  the  occasion ;  a  man  who 
had  without  any  great  dignity  of  procedure  been  sur- 
reptitiously hurried  out  of  Jerusalem  some  eight  years 
previously,  taken  down  to  Caesarea,  and  there  coun- 
selled to  embark  and  retire  into  obscurity  in  his 
native  city.  This  man  had  taken  the  counsel  given. 
There  was  nothing  else  for  him  to  do.  The  Apostles 
had  found  his  presence  an  embarrassment,  and  did 
not  perceive  his  wonderful  abilities.  For  eight 
years  little  or  nothing  had  been  heard  of  him ;  and 
though  he  was  probably  busy  all  this  time  in  the 
province  of  Cilicia,  his  name  was  well  nigh  forgotten 
at  Jerusalem  and  thereabouts.  But  Barnabas  up  in 
Antioch  was  now  in  need  of  a  man.  He  knew  well 
all  the  great  leaders  at  Jerusalem,  and  he  also 
remembered  the  outcast  from  Damascus  whom  he 
had  once  befriended,  whose  face  he  had  once  looked 
into,  whose  hand  he  had  once  grasped — and  he  knew 
him  for  a  man.  And  so  unknown  though  that  name 
was  to  the  world,  untried  though  his  abilities  were. 
Barnabas  trusted  his  own  judgment  in  the  teeth  of 
the  world,  having  perhaps  kept  an  eye  on  the  man's 
obscure  labors  about  Tarsus,  and  so  staked  the  suc- 
cess of  the  great  movement  at  Antioch  on  his  faith 
in  the  fugitive  who  had  been  induced  to  give  up  at 


BARNABAS  33 

Jerusalem  and  surrender  all  farther  attempts  at  ser- 
vice there — and  hence  we  read  ''Barnabas  went 
forth  to  Tarsus  to  seek  for  Saul." 

In  that  hour  God's  clock  struck  high  noon  for 
early  Christianity.  The  finding  of  Saul  is  sufficient 
fame  for  any  one  man.  Had  Barnabas  never  done 
anything  before  that  day,  had  he  never  rendered 
any  service  after  that  hour,  his  name  would  deserve 
immortality  among  the  honor  roll  of  the  heroes  of 
the  Cross.  Already  he  had  discovered  Paul  the 
Christian,  now  he  discovers  Paul  the  Preacher.  He 
opens  the  door  for  the  loftiest  genius  in  the  annals 
of  Christianity.  He  unlocks  the  prisonhouse  for  one 
who  has  lain  there  bound  in  all  but  impotent  silence 
for  eight  long  weary  years. 

It  is  needless  to  state  that  Paul  joyfully  responded 
to  Barnabas 's  appeal,  and  returned  with  him  to 
Antioch.  Here  they  both  labored  with  masterly  zeal 
and  success  for  a  whole  year. 

Toward  the  end  of  this  period  the  prophet  Agabus 
came  from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch  and  predicted  a 
famine  which  not  long  after  occurred,  causing 
intense  distress  to  the  little  Christian  community  at 
Jerusalem.  "Then  the  disciples,  every  man  accord- 
ing to  his  ability,  determined  to  send  relief  unto  the 
brethren  which  dwelt  in  Judea ;  which  also  they  did. 
and  sent  it  to  the  elders  by  the  hands  of  Barnabas 
and  Saul."  Here  again  we  have  a  high  tribute  to 
the  confidence  everybody  instantly  reposed  in  the 
honor  and  ability  of  Barnabas.  He  had  been  in 
Antioch  but  a  year.     Other  eminent  workers  from 


34  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

Cyprus  and  Cyrene  had  been  there  a  longer  period. 
Antioch  itself  was  not  lacking  in  able  and  efficient 
men;  but  when  it  came  to  choosing  two  men  for  an 
important  mission,  Barnabas  is  at  once  named  as  one 
of  them,  and  Paul  the  other.  Fulfilling  this  service 
satisfactorily  to  all  parties  concerned,  they  returned 
from  Jerusalem  to  Antioch,  bringing  with  them  a 
younger  relative  of  Barnabas,  John  Mark. 

By  this  time  the  church  at  Antioch  had  grown  so 
strong  in  numbers  and  spirituality,  and  was  so  richly 
blessed  in  teachers  and  prophets  that  they  could 
easily  spare  some  of  their  leaders  for  service  else- 
where. Five  men  seem  to  have  had  the  preeminence 
in  gifts  of  consecration  and  usefulness, — Barnabas, 
Simeon,  Lucius,  Manaen,  and  Paul.  A  momentous 
event  in  the  history  of  Christianity  and  of  mankind 
was  about  to  take  place  though  none  of  the  earthly 
actors  in  that  drama  had  the  least  comprehension  of 
its  world-wide,  time-long  import.  The  first  great 
mission  of  Christianity  to  the  Gentile  world  was 
about  to  be  inaugurated.  There  must  be  no  mistake 
made  in  the  human  instruments  who  were  to  be  so 
signally  honored  as  to  be  chosen  for  this  service. 
Heaven  had  been  weighing,  comparing,  judging  the 
abilities,  resourcefulness,  and  consecration  of  all  the 
men  who  professed  allegiance  to  the  Cross  of  Christ, 
including  of  course  the  eleven  Apostles  and  the 
brethren  of  our  Lord.  On  whom  would  the  choice 
fall?  In  what  men  did  Heaven  repose  the  most 
implicit  confidence?  Listen  to  the  simple  words  of 
Luke  as  he  answers  our  question,  as  he  reports  an 


BARNABAS  35 

event  the  greatness  of  which  had  scarcely  been  par- 
alleled in  the  previous  history  of  the  world,  save  by 
the  events  connected  with  the  early  life  of  our  Lord. 
Plere  is  the  language  Luke  uses  in  narrating  that 
event — "As  they  ministered  to  the  Lord,  and  fasted, 
the  Holy  Ghost  said.  Separate  me  Barnabas  and 
Saul  for  the  work  whereunto  I  have  called  them. 
And  when  they  had  fasted  and  prayed,  and  laid  their 
hands  on  them,  they  sent  them  away.  So  they,  being 
sent  forth  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  departed  unto  Seleu- 
cia;  and  from  thence  they  sailed  to  Cyprus." 

Every  man  who  knew  Barnabas  trusted  him.  The 
two  great  churches  at  Jerusalem  and  Antioch  trusted 
him.  And  now  evidence  is  at  hand  that  all  Heaven 
trusted  him,  we  need  no  farther  testimony  as  to  his 
character  and  ability. 

And  so  the  church  at  Antioch,  though  only  a  few 
months  old,  had  become,  under  the  joint  pastorate 
of  Barnabas  and  Paul  and  others,  prosperous  enough 
to  send  financial  aid  to  the  famine-stricken  sufferers 
in  Jerusalem,  enthusiastic  and  consecrated  enough 
to  begin  the  conquest  of  the  world  for  Christ,  and 
efficient  enough  to  spare  indefinitely  its  two  most 
competent  leaders. 

It  is  no  part  of  our  purpose  to  follow  in  detail  the 
events  of  Christianity's  first  mission  to  the  Gentiles. 
That  has  frequently  been  done  by  other  and  abler 
pens.  Our  study  is  of  Barnabas  the  man  and  friend 
of  Paul,  his  lofty  character,  and  his  indispensable 
services  as  one  of  the  co-founders  and  organizers  of 
that  vast  missionary  enterprise  which  swept  north- 


36  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

ward  and  westward  in  victorious  march  from  the 
gates  of  Antioch  to  the  gates  of  the  Imperial  City. 
It  is  time  the  name  of  Barnabas  was  made  to  stand 
fortli  in  its  original  splendor,  crowned  with  the 
glory  of  his  consecration,  unconscious  greatness,  and 
multitudinous  achievements  for  the  Cross  of  Christ. 

Of  that  first  missionary  journey  it  is  sufficient  to 
state  that  Barnabas  shared  all  the  labors,  dangers, 
and  persecutions  that  Paul  himself  underwent.  As 
it  is  our  purpose  to  record  not  only  the  separate 
services  to  Christianity  of  the  friends  of  Paul,  but 
also  to  show  how  the  genius  of  Paul  overtops  the 
tallest  fame  of  the  men  of  his  time,  it  should  here  be 
stated  that  great  as  Barnabas  was  in  leadership  and 
eloquence,  he  and  Paul  had  not  been  far  on  their 
journey  together  before  the  latter,  by  the  sheer  force 
of  his  ability,  became  the  indisputable  leader  both 
in  action  and  speech;  and  hence  the  order  in  which 
their  names  first  appeared  in  Luke's  narrative  be- 
came reversed — we  no  longer  read  of  ''Barnabas 
and  Saul,"  but  of  "Paul  and  Barnabas." 

It  has  already  been  stated  that  in  the  graces  of 
oratory  Barnabas  had  but  one  rival  among  all  the 
Apostles  and  evangelists  whose  names  are  recorded 
in  the  New  Testament,  and  that  that  rival  was  the 
eloquent  Apollos  of  Alexandria.  It  has  also  been 
noted  that  so  powerful  was  Barnabas  in  public 
address  that  his  real  name  was  dropped  and  for- 
gotten and  that  of  "Son  of  Exhortation"  univer- 
sally substituted.  And  yet  on  this  first  missionary 
journey  it  was  found  that  Paul  could  and  did  sur- 


BARNABAS  37 

pass  him  in  his  own  strongest  point.  Certainly  not 
in  personal  grace  of  manner,  or  rhetorical  finish  of 
speech;  for  the  testimony  is  abundant  and  convinc- 
ing, both  from  Paul's  own  confessions  and  in  the 
criticism  of  his  enemies,  that  he  was  sadly  deficient 
in  these  things.  But  in  Paul's  utterance  there  was 
such  a  torrent  of  language,  such  a  vehemence  of 
argument,  such  an  intensity  of  conviction,  such  a 
passion  of  love,  that  he  swept  all  before  him;  and 
hence  his  fame  as  an  orator  surpasses  that  of  Bar- 
nabas and  Apollos.  And  so  it  was  that  the  men  of 
Lystra  called  Paul,  Mercury,  because  he  was  the 
chief  speaker. 

In  all  the  relations  of  these  two  friends,  despite 
the  dazzling  swiftness  with  which  Paul  came  to  the 
front,  there  is  not  the  slightest  trace  of  jealousy  on 
the  part  of  Barnabas,  though  he  must  have  been 
fully  and  keenly  aware  that  as  Paul  increased  he 
must  decrease.  It  was  a  part  of  Barnabas 's  great- 
ness that  he  was  content  to  have  it  so.  The  glory 
of  his  Master  was  his  one  life-long  joy  and 
aspiration.  He  had  given  his  Lord  all  he  had  to 
give;  if  another  for  whom  he  himself  had  opened 
the  door  of  opportunity,  could  bring  to  their 
common  Lord  still  greater  gifts  and  consecrate  a  still 
mightier  genius,  was  not  that  same  Lord  and  Master 
the  gainer  thereby,  and  should  not  he  joy  and  rejoice 
in  it  all  ?  Ah,  Barnabas,  the  world  has  little  appre- 
ciated either  thy  greatness  or  thy  humility.  In 
worshipping  the  rising  sun  men  have  forgotten  the 
splendors  of  the  setting  sun.     But  thou  didst  not 


38  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

care;  the  rising  sun  reflected  thy  Master's  face,  and 
thou  wert  content. 

Having  preached  successfully  from  one  end  of 
Cyprus  to  the  other,  and,  despite  deadly  perils  and 
opposition,  having  completed  their  first  mission  in 
the  southeastern  part  of  Asia  Minor,  Paul  and 
Barnabas  went  down  into  Attalia. 

"And  thence  sailed  to  Antioch,  from  whence  they 
had  been  recommended  to  the  grace  of  God  for  the 
work  which  they  had  fulfilled.  And  when  they 
were  come,  and  had  gathered  the  church  together, 
they  rehearsed  all  that  God  had  done  with  them, 
and  how  he  had  opened  the  door  of  faith  unto  the 
Gentiles.  And  there  they  abode  long  time  with  the 
disciples.  And  certain  men  which  came  down  from 
Judea  taught  the  brethren,  and  said.  Except  ye  be 
circumcised  after  the  manner  of  Moses,  ye  cannot 
be  saved.  When  therefore  Paul  and  Barnabas  had 
no  small  dissension  and  disputation  with  them,  they 
determined  that  Paul  and  Barnabas,  and  certain 
other  of  them,  should  go  up  to  Jerusalem  unto  the 
Apostles  and  elders  about  this  question.  And  being 
brought  on  their  way  by  the  church,  they  passed 
through  Phenice  and  Samaria,  declaring  the  con- 
version of  the  Gentiles :  and  they  caused  great  joy 
unto  all  the  brethren.  And  when  they  were  come 
to  Jerusalem,  they  were  received  of  the  church,  and 
of  the  Apostles  and  elders,  and  they  declared  all 
things  that  God  had  done  with  them.  But  there 
rose  up  certain  of  the  sect  of  the  Pharisees  which 
believed,  saying,  That  it  was  needful  to  circumcise 


BARNABAS  39 

them,  and  to  command  them  to  keep  the  law  of 
Moses.  And  the  Apostles  and  elders  came  together 
for  to  consider  of  this  matter. ' ' 

At  this  Council,  the  greatest  in  the  Apostolic  age 
and  one  of  the  most  important,  if  not  the  most 
important  of  all,  in  the  entire  history  of  Christian- 
ity, Paul  and  Barnabas  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder 
in  defense  of  the  rights,  privileges,  and  immunities 
of  the  Gentile  converts;  and  it  is  not  too  much  to 
say  that  it  was  owing  to  the  efforts  of  these  powerful 
friends  that  Christianity  in  that  hour  became  a 
world  religion  instead  of  continuing  longer  a  mere 
Jewish  sect.  Here  then  is  another  service  of  Barna- 
bas to  Christianity  and  to  mankind.  And  if  we  may 
judge  by  the  order  in  which,  in  this  now  exceptional 
instance,  the  names  of  the  two  men  stand,  we  must 
believe  that  on  this  one  occasion  Barnabas  was  more 
persuasive  and  influential  than  Paul,  for  we  read 
that  ''all  the  multitude  kept  silence  and  gave  audi- 
ence to  Barnabas  and  Paul." 

The  questions  at  issue  being  settled  in  accordance 
with  the  views  of  these  tAvo  men,  James,  the  brother 
of  our  Lord,  and  probably  the  President  of  the 
Council,  put  in  formal  language  the  decision  arrived 
at.  This  was  to  be  communicated  both  in  writing 
and  orally  to  the  Gentile  converts  in  Antioch,  Syria, 
and  Cilicia.  Again  the  church  at  Jerusalem  showed 
its  confidence  in  Barnabas  by  entrusting  him 
together  with  Paul  and  two  of  its  own  members, 
with  the  mission  of  making  known  to  all  Gentile 
churches  the  decision  of  the  Council. 


40  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

III. 

Separation  of  Paul  and  Barnabas. 

Returning  to  Antioch  with  the  circular  letter  from 
the  Council  at  Jerusalem,  Paul  and  Barnabas  and 
their  two  companions  from  the  mother  church,  im- 
mediately made  its  contents  known,  to  the  great  joy 
of  the  Christian  community  where  they  had  so  long 
and  faithfully  labored  together.  That  done,  again 
these  friends  plunged  enthusiastically  into  the  work 
of  the  local  church,  preaching  and  teaching,  and 
continued  so  doing  for  a  time. 

*'And  some  days  after,  Paul  said  unto  Barnabas, 
Let  us  go  again  and  visit  our  brethren  in  every  city 
where  we  have  preached  the  word  of  the  Lord,  and 
see  how  they  do.  And  Barnabas  determined  to  take 
with  them  John,  whose  surname  was  Mark.  But 
Paul  thought  not  good  to  take  him  with  them,  who 
departed  from  them  from  Pamphylia,  and  went  not 
with  them  to  the  work.  And  the  contention  was  so 
sharp  between  them,  that  they  departed  asunder 
one  from  the  other:  and  so  Barnabas  took  Mark, 
and  sailed  unto  Cyprus." 

The  discussion  of  this  painful  incident  though 
appropriate  to  this  place,  will  be  postponed  for  the 
present  but  will  be  fully  treated  in  the  next  chapter 
which  deals  with  the  career  of  another  of  Paul's 
friends — this  same  John  Mark.  Suffice  it  to  say  at 
this  time,  that  though  the  dispute  separated  Barna- 
bas from  Paul  and  thus  shut  the  former  out  of  the 
joy  and  opportunity  of  revisiting  old  friends  and 


BARNABAS  41 

clmrches  in  Cilicia  and  elsewhere,  and  also  shut  him 
out  of  the  association  with  Paul  in  the  latter 's 
second  missionary  journey,  it  did  not  interfere  with 
his  continued  loyal  service  to  his  Master. 

It  is  not  known  that  the  two  men  ever  met  again, 
and  it  is  not  believed  that  they  did.  This,  however, 
cannot  be  proved,  and  in  any  case  must  not  be 
construed  as  meaning  that  either  of  them  cherished 
unkindly  feelings  toward  the  other  for  any  length 
of  time.  Both  were  too  great  as  men  and  too  mag- 
nanimous as  Christians,  to  harbor  ill  feelings  or 
cherish  resentment  against  a  fellow  soldier  of  the 
Cross,  especially  against  their  hearts'  best  brother 
with  whom  they  had  so  many  tender  memories  in 
common,  with  whom  they  had  hazarded  their  lives 
in  a  cause  sacredly  enthroned  in  the  souls  of  both. 

Fortunately  we  are  not  left  entirely  to  conjecture 
in  this  matter.  In  later  years  in  one  of  his  letters 
Paul  makes  a  kind  reference  to  Barnabas,  in  which 
he  classes  himself  with  his  old  friend  in  direct  con- 
trast with  the  course  pursued  by  the  Apostles  and 
brethren  of  the  Lord ;  implying  in  what  he  says  that 
Barnabas  was  still  actively  engaged  in  missionary 
work  and,  like  himself,  was  self-supporting. 

After  his  seperation  from  Paul  Barnabas  entirely 
fades  from  view  in  the  Acts,  his  name  not  again 
being  mentioned.  lie  is  referred  to  but  three  times 
in  the  subsequent  books  of  the  New  Testament,  all 
three  references  being  found  in  the  letters  of  Paul; 
but  in  each  case  the  reference  is  purely  casual.  It 
would  be  a  great  mistake,  however,  to  assume  either 


42  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

that  he  was  idle,  or  that  his  work  was  of  little  con- 
sequence. In  fact,  we  have  already  seen  that  Paul 
implies  directly  the  contrary  in  one  of  his  allusions 
to  his  old-time  comrade  in  arms. 

The  silence  of  Acts  as  to  what  Barnabas 's  subse- 
quent labors  were,  no  more  discredits  him  than  does 
its  silence  about  the  life  mission  of  the  Eleven 
Apostles  discredit  them,  none  of  whose  names  are 
more  than  mentioned  save  those  of  Peter,  John,  and 
James,  and  these,  too,  fade  utterly  from  view  at 
about  the  same  time  as  does  Barnabas.  The  only 
inference  we  are  permitted  to  draw  is  that  the  sub- 
sequent labors  of  Barnabas,  like  those  of  the 
Apostles,  fell  outside  the  plan  of  Luke  in  writing 
Acts;  that  is,  the  story  of  the  victorious  march  of 
Christianity  from  bigoted  Jerusalem  to  Imperial 
Rome,  where  Luke  leaves  Paul  triumphant  in  his 
chains,  receiving  all  who  came  unto  him  ''preaching 
the  kingdom  of  God,  and  teaching  those  things 
which  concern  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  with  all  con- 
fidence, no  man  forbidding  him." 

IV 

The    One   Recorded   Mistake    of   Barnabas* s   Entire 
Career 

By  this  I  do  not  refer  to  his  championship  of 
John  Mark  and  his  subsequent  separation  from  Paul. 
In  that  matter  I  do  not  hold  him  blameworthy.  But 
there  is  one  mistake  of  Barnabas  which  cannot  be 
explained  away  and  which  no  apology  or  defense  is 
sufficient  to  cover.     The  record  of  this  is  found  in 


BARNABAS  43 

Paul's  letter  to  the  Galatians  where  he  writes  as 
follows: — ''But  when  Peter  was  come  to  Antioch,  I 
withstood  him  to  the  face,  because  he  was  to  be 
blamed.  For  before  that  certain  came  from  James, 
he  did  eat  with  the  Gentiles;  but  when  they  were 
come,  he  withdrew  and  separated  himself,  fearing 
them  which  were  of  the  circumcision.  And  the  other 
Jews  dissembled  likewise  with  him;  insomuch  that 
Barnabas  also  was  carried  away  with  their 
dissimulation." 

This  was  a  very  grave  error  on  the  part  of  Barna- 
bas. His  fault  could  not  have  been  due  to  moral 
cowardice  for  he  was  not  a  moral  coward.  This  was 
sufficiently  proved  when  he  came  to  the  defense  of 
Paul  in  the  face  of  the  suspicious  brethren  and 
Apostles  at  Jerusalem.  His  fault  was  not  due  to 
physical  cowardice,  for  already  he  had  shown  him- 
self a  brave  man  by  facing  death  unafraid  in  many 
a  hostile  city.  Nor  was  his  fault  due  to  an  error  of 
judgment,  for  he  had  long  been  a  missionary  to  the 
Gentiles  and  one  of  the  most  fearless  champions  of 
their  Christian  privileges  that  the  early  church  had, 
ranking  with  Paul  himself  in  this  particular.  How 
then  was  he  induced  to  withdraw  for  a  time  from 
tables  where  Gentiles  were  present?  I  can  think  of 
hut  two  possible  reasons,  neither  of  which  reflects 
any  credit  on  this  great  and  good  man.  It  may 
possibl}^  have  been  due  to  the  pressure  of  Peter  and 
other  close  friends  from  the  old  and  dear,  but  nar- 
row and  bigoted,  mother  church  at  Jerusalem;  or 
it  may  have  been  due  to  the  cropping  out  now  and 


44  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

then  of  the  old  inborn,  ineradicable  prejudice  of 
the  Jew  against  eating  with  a  Gentile,  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  he  was  their  redoubtable 
champion  in  all  that  concerned  their  Christian  rights 
and  privileges.  He  may  have  been  led  to  believe 
that  the  question  of  eating  with  them  was  solely  a 
private  matter  which  would  concern  no  one  in  par- 
ticular; if  so,  he  was  certainly  mistaken  as  the 
clearer-sighted  Paul  quickly  demonstrated.  But  on 
this  whole  subject  we  ought  to  judge  Barnabas  by 
the  standards,  prejudices,  and  training  of  his  own 
day,  not  by  the  greater  liberality  of  our  own. 
Measured  in  this  way  we  shall  see  his  conduct  as  a 
whole  in  his  relation  to  the  Gentiles,  in  a  broader 
and  fairer  light;  we  shall  see  that  he  was  in  all 
probability  the  broadest-minded  Jewish  convert  of 
his  day  save  only  St.  Paul  himself. 

But  even  in  Paul's  censure  of  his  conduct  on  this 
one  occasion,  there  is  an  indirect  and  very  signifi- 
cant compliment  paid  to  his  attitude  toward  the 
Gentiles  as  uniformly  manifested  during  all  his 
previous  career.  The  very  language  of  Paul's  cen- 
sure shows  his  surprise  and  amazement  that  a  man 
of  Barnabas 's  well  known  firmness  and  liberality 
should  have  wavered  even  once.  This  also  indirectly 
reveals  to  us  the  force  of  the  social  pressure  which 
must  have  been  brought  to  bear  upon  him  to  swerve 
him  from  his  previous  course. 

After  all  that  can  be  said  to  magnify  this  one 
failure  of  Barnabas,  it  was  yet  but  a  trivial  and 
temporary  matter  that  scarcely  rose  to  the  dignity 


BARNABAS  45 

of  a  moral  issue;  and  I  have  sometimes  been  sorry 
that  Paul  referred  to  it  at  all,  for  it  is  the  last  time 
but  one  that  Barnabas 's  name  occurs  in  the  New 
Testament,  and  the  very  last  which  tells  us  anjrfching 
about  Barnabas  himself,  so  we  are  in  danger  of  being 
left  with  a  final  rather  unpleasant  impression  of  a 
man  who  otherwise  would  wholly  challenge  our 
admiration. 

I  scarcely  believe  Paul  would  have  mentioned  the 
matter  had  he  foreseen  that  his  hasty  letter  to  the 
<2hurches  of  Galatia,  called  forth  by  a  dire  temporary 
crisis,  would  be  preserved  and  read  by  all  Christen- 
dom to  the  end  of  time.  Paul's  purpose  in  the 
reference  is  perfectly  clear  and  perfectly  justifiable. 
His  own  Apostolic  standing  and  authority  were 
being  called  in  question,  and  were  in  extreme 
jeopardy;  and  hence  it  was  necessary  for  him  to 
defend  himself  and  his  position  by  every  available 
argument,  not  for  any  mere  personal  reasons,  but  for 
the  sake  of  his  divine  mission  and  for  the  sake  of  the 
future  liberty  and  well-being  of  Gentile  believers  to 
all  time.  So  we  cannot  censure  him  for  referring  as 
he  does  to  Peter  and  Barnabas.  But  like  many 
another  letter-writer,  Paul  had  no  conception  how 
his  words  and  utterances  would  go  ringing  down 
the  centuries  for  weal  or  woe,  for  the  exalting  or 
belittling  of  his  friends  and  contemporaries. 

And  yet  perhaps  it  is  as  well  that  we  should  know 
that  even  Barnabas,  the  great  preacher  and  mission- 
ary, was  human  like  the  rest  of  us,  and  not  exempt 
from  some  of  the  frailties  that  afflict  his  f ellowmen. 


46  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

But  however  great  we  may  deem  this  one  mistake 
it  was  not  greater  than  that  of  John,  ''the  beloved 
disciple, ' '  who  wanted  to  call  down  fire  from  heaven 
and  destroy  a  Samaritan  village,  thus  bringing  upon 
himself  the  stern  rebuke  of  Christ.  Nor  was  Barna- 
bas's  fault  greater  than  that  of  Paul  himself  in  his 
uncharitable  course  toward  John  Mark;  it  was 
trivial  in  comparison  with  Peter's  denial  of  his 
Lord ;  and,  at  most,  it  weighs  little  when  set  over 
against  the  catalog  of  his  private  virtues  and  public 
services.  Let  us  now  briefly  review  and  summarize 
these. 

V 

The  Character  and  Services  of  Barnabas — 
A  Recapitulation 

We  have  already  made  quite  a  full  survey  of 
Barnabas  as  a  man,  a  Christian,  and  a  preacher ;  and 
also  endeavored  to  point  out  his  special  importance 
and  mission,  not  only  to  the  early  church,  but  also 
to  all  after  ages  of  Christian  history;  but  it  is  well 
before  we  part  company  with  such  a  noble  man,  to 
gather  up  in  a  few  paragraphs  a  summary  of  all  he 
did  and  was,  that  the  scattering  information  and 
impressions  we  have  received  may  stand  forth  in 
our  thoughts  in  their  original  and  deserved  strength 
and  lustre. 

In  the  gifts  which  attract  men's  admiration  Bar- 
nabas was  richly  endowed  by  nature,  having  the 
form  and  brow  of  a  Jove,  a  voice  and  delivery  that 
charmed  the  ear  and  convinced  the  conscience  and 


BARNABAS  47 

judgment;  in  character,  he  was  "a  good  man;"  in 
spirituality,  "full  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  faith;" 
in  consecration,  he  laid  his  money,  his  time,  his 
life,  on  the  altar  of  sacrifice;  in  moral  courage  he 
was  sublime,  championing  the  dreaded  Saul  when  all 
men  were  passing  by  on  the  other  side.  Of  physical 
courage  he  was  a  noble  example,  facing  peril  and 
death  in  scores  of  hostile  cities;  he  was  charitable 
toward  others'  weaknesses,  loyal  when  they  failed 
and  men  distrusted  them,  stood  by  them  whatever 
the  cost  to  self  in  opportunity  or  friendship.  He 
was  a  swift  reader  of  character,  an  unerring  dis- 
cerner  of  unknown  and  unproven  ability;  he  trusted 
other  men  and  believed  in  the  final  kingship  of  their 
better  qualities  despite  all  previous  exhibition  and 
triumph  of  their  less  worthy  natures ;  he  was  a 
stranger  to  jealousy  however  far  those  whom  he 
had  befriended  and  given  their  chance,  might  sur- 
pass him  in  fame,  popularity,  and  achievement.  All 
churches  and  all  men  believed  in  him  and  trusted 
him  to  the  full  and  to  the  end.  The  great  Jewish 
Christian  church  at  Jerusalem  trusted  him  on  the 
weightiest  occasions:  the  great  Gentile  Christian 
church  at  Antioch  committed  to  him  a  most  critical 
mission  in  their  behalf,  even  their  own  standing 
within  the  pale  of  Christianity  itself:  the  Apostles 
and  brethren  of  our  Lord,  Paul  and  Mark,  all  alike 
trusted  his  integrity  and  ability.  The  Holy  Spirit 
trusted  him  and  committed  unto  him  jointly  with 
St.  Paul  the  inauguration  of  the  first  foreign  mis- 
sionary movement  for  the  conquest  of  the  world  for 


48  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

Christ.  He  twice  opened  a  door  for  St.  Paul,  and 
reopened  it  for  St.  Mark — he  was  the  discoverer  of 
Paul  and  the  restorer  of  Mark.  With  Paul  and 
others  in  a  j^ear's  time  he  brought  the  church  at 
Antioch  up  to  such  a  state  of  efficiency  that  it  could 
undertake  world-wide  evangelization.  He  twice 
traversed  the  island  of  Cyprus  on  missionary 
tours,  and  once  the  southern  provinces  of  Asia 
Minor.  He  was  one  of  the  chief  men  in  settling  for 
all  time  the  position  of  the  Gentile  converts  within 
the  Christian  fold ;  and  the  last  glimpse  we  catch  of 
him,  he  is  still  the  self-supporting  missionary  as 
eager  for  new  laurels  for  his  Master's  brow  as  in 
those  far-off  days  when,  towering  head  and  shoul- 
ders above  the  original  Apostles  in  the  splendors  of 
his  enkindled  oratory,  he,  a  stranger  from  Cyprus 
and  alien  born,  won  in  a  moment,  in  the  very  heart 
of  the  Holy  City,  that  immortal  designation — "Son 
of  Exhortation." 

Without  disparagement  to  any  of  Barnabas 's 
other  services — and  none  of  them  can  be  disparaged 
— it  may  safely  be  said  that  the  greatest  of  all  was 
his  discovery  of  Paul  and  his  introduction  of  that 
Apostle  to  the  church  and  work  at  Antioch.  God 
might  have  used  other  men  or  instrumentalities  for 
achieving  this;  but  the  fact  remains  that  he  did 
not  do  so.  God  might  have  used  another  man  or 
instrumentality  to  achieve  the  work  done  by  Moses ; 
but  this  does  not  detract  from  the  greatness  of 
Moses  nor  from  the  unique  significance  of  his  career. 
God  might  have  used  another  man  than  John  the 


BARNABAS  49 

Baptist  as  the  forerunner  of  Christ;  but  this  does 
not  detract  from  the  glory  of  the  mission  and  priv- 
ilege which  were  John's.  So  likewise  is  it  true  of 
the  mission  of  Barnabas;  but  God  did  not  use 
another  man  to  introduce  Paul,  he  did  use  Barnabas, 
and  so  in  the  providence  of  God  it  was  this  man 
who  opened  the  door  for  Paul  and  gave  him  his 
opportunity  in  life. 

This  honor  alone  would  be  sufficient  laurels  for 
the  brow  of  any  man  had  he  rendered  no  other 
service  to  mankind,  as  it  is  sufficient  to  know  of 
Andrew  that  he  led  Peter  to  Christ.  How  much 
direct  value  the  friendship  of  Paul  was  to  Barnabas 
we  may  not  say;  but  certain  it  is  that,  humanly 
speaking,  the  friendship  of  Barnabas  was  indispen- 
sable to  Paul. 

If  in  these  studies  we  are  constantly  to  keep  before 
us  not  only  the  individual  fame,  services,  and  ability 
of  Paul's  friends,  but  also  use  them  to  gain  a 
perspective  for  estimating  the  overtowering  great- 
ness of  Paul  himself,  then  we  must  hasten  to  confess 
that  great  as  was  Barnabas  in  all  the  essential 
qualities  of  permanent  renown,  yet  the  younger 
Paul  easily  surpassed  him  in  almost  every  particular 
save  in  the  qualities  of  heart  and  character.  Barna- 
bas was  a  man  of  wonderful  talent,  Paul  was  a  man 
of  transcendent  genius — and  this  forever  marks  the 
distinction  between  the  two. 

Though  we  may  be  awed  and  overwhelmed  by 
the  solitary  and  awful  grandeur  of  the  mountain 
whose  summit  is  lost  above  the  clouds,  it  is  no  reason 


60  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

why  we  should  disparage  or  neglect  those  whose 
lower  but  still  massive  and  lofty  brows  concentrate 
and  reflect  the  splendor  of  the  noonday  sun — and 
such  a  mountain  peak  was  Joses  surnamed  Barna- 
bas, "the  Son  of  Exhortation/' 


CHAPTER  III 

John  Mark — The  Man  Who  Forfeited  and  Afterwards 
Regained  the  Confidence  of  St.  Paul 


The  story  of  Mark's  career  is  based  upon  the  fol~ 
lomng  passages: — Acts  12:12  and  25,  Acts  13:5  and 
13,  15  :36-39,  Col.  4 :10,  2nd  Tim.  4 :11,  Philemon  1 :24, 
1st  Peter  5:13,  and  the  Gospel  by  Mark. 


HAVING  completed  onr  study  of  Barnabas, 
Paul's  first  great  friend,  we  naturally 
take  up  next  the  story  of  Barnabas 's 
relative,  John  Mark.  It  is  here  assumed 
that  the  Mark  of  Acts  and  of  Paul 's  epistles,  and  the 
Marcus  of  Peter's  letter,  and  the  author  of  the  sec- 
ond Gospel  are  one  and  the  same  person. 

Most  Bible  students  are  familiar  with  the  details 
of  the  life  and  character  of  the  author  of  the 
fourth  Gospel;  but  few  have  a  close  acquaint- 
ance with  the  life  history  of  the  other  three.  Of 
Matthew  it  is  impossible  to  learn  much,  but  ignor- 
ance of  the  lives  of  Luke  and  Mark  is  inexcusable. 
In  our  studies  of  Paul's  friends  we  shall  make  a 
close  acquaintance  with  both  as  far  as  the  New 
Testament  lends  us  its  aid.  They  are  men  worth 
knowing  for  the  services  they  rendered  to  Chris- 

51 


52  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

tianity,  for  the  manner  in  which  their  lives  are 
interwoven  with  the  life  of  their  friend  Paul,  and 
also  because  of  their  own  inherent  worth  and  attrac- 
tiveness as  men  and  Christians. 

I. 

Our  First  Meeting  with  John  Mark 

Mark  is  not  once  mentioned  in  any  of  the  four 
Gospels,  and  there  is  no  conclusive  evidence  that 
he  ever  saw  Christ.  We  are  first  introduced  to  him 
in  the  Acts  where  we  learn  that  after  the  angel  had 
delivered  Peter  from  prison  "he  came  to  the  house 
of  Mary  the  mother  of  John,  whose  surname  was 
Mark;  where  many  were  gathered  together  pray- 
ing." 

From  this  it  may  be  inferred  that  Mark  was 
reared  in  a  devout  Christian  home;  that  his  mother 
was  prominent  in  the  early  Christian  circles;  and 
that,  if  a  widow,  she  was  a  woman  of  some  property, 
as  her  house  was  spacious  enough  to  accommodate  a 
large  gathering. 

Nothing  is  told  us  concerning  Mark's  conversion, 
but  as  Peter  seems  to  have  been  an  intimate  of  the 
home  and  in  after  years  speaks  of  Mark  as  his 
**son,"  the  inference  is  possibly  warranted  that  he 
was  led  to  Christ  by  Peter,  for  Paul  often  spoke  of 
his  spiritual  children  as  his  "sons."  In  Colossians 
we  learn  that  Mark  was  a  relative  of  Barnabas, 
probably  a  younger  cousin. 


JOHN  MAEK  53 

II 

Mark  Causes  a  Rupture  Between  Barnal)as  and  Paul. 

Mark's  first  recorded  association  with  Barnabas 
and  Paul  is  his  trip  with  them  to  Antioch  on  their 
return  from  Jerusalem  after  they  had  distributed 
to  the  poor  of  the  mother  church  the  alms  which 
had  been  collected  in  the  church  where  they  were  at 
the  time  jointly  laboring. 

Not  long  after  the  arrival  of  the  three  at  Antioch, 
the  Holy  Spirit  summoned  Barnabas  and  Paul  to  go 
forth  on  their  first  missionary  journey  to  the  Gen- 
tiles; and  we  read  ''they  had  also  John  to  their 
minister."  Just  what  was  the  nature  of  his  duties 
we  are  not  informed;  whether  he  simply  looked  after 
their  material  comfort,  or  was  also  a  helper  in  their 
evangelistic  eiforts,  is  uncertain,  probably  he  did 
both.  Together  the  three  men  traversed  the  island 
of  Cyprus,  Barnabas  and  Paul  everywhere  preaching ; 
but  when  that  work  was  finished  and  they  crossed 
over  to  the  mainland  a  simply  told,  but,  as  the  out- 
come proved,  a  very  significant  event  transpired. 
The  historian  of  Acts  merely  states — **Now  when 
Paul  and  his  company  loosed  from  Paphos,  they 
came  to  Perga  in  Pamphylia:  and  John  departing 
from  them  returned  to  Jerusalem."  No  explanation 
whatever  of  Mark's  course  is  anywhere  vouchsafed. 
to  us,  but  the  consequences  of  this  desertion  were 
far-reaching  as  they  bore  on  the  interrelations  of 
the  three  men. 


54  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

Conjecture  has  always  been  rife  in  the  efforts 
made  to  explain  Mark's  defection.  No  satisfactory 
conclusion  has  been  generally  adopted.  The  least 
charitable  view  of  all  is  that  it  was  due  to  sheer 
cowardice  on  his  part  as  the  company  faced  the 
perils  of  missionary  enterprise  among  hostile 
peoples.  Scarcely  less  unworthy  are  the  suggestions 
that  perhaps  he  was  jealous  for  Barnabas 's  sake  as 
he  saw  Paul  assuming  the  leadership  of  the  expe- 
dition, or  that  he  was  opposed  to  missions  among 
the  Gentiles.  The  most  charitable  view  is  that  the 
original  plans  of  the  three  merely  included  the 
touring  of  Cyprus,  but  when  it  was  determined  to 
extend  the  journey  indefinitely  it  was  impossible 
for  Mark  longer  to  absent  himself  from  his  nati^  e 
city,  and  so,  perforce,  he  had  to  return  to  Jerusalem. 
When  he  left  there  with  Barnabas  and  Paul  he  ex- 
pected to  go  no  farther  than  to  Antioch,  no  mission- 
ary journey  then  having  entered  into  the  minds  or 
plans  of  either  Paul  or  Barnabas ;  so  already  he  had 
been  absent  much  longer  than  he  originally  expected 
to  be,  having  continued  with  his  friends  during  all 
their  evangelization  of  Cyprus.  Now  it  would  be 
easy  to  accept  this  latter  conjecture  as  the  true  one 
were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  afterwards  Paul  hald 
Mark  exceedingly  blameworthy  for  his  conduct,  and, 
therefore,  unless  we  charge  Paul  with  being  entirely 
unreasonable,  we  must  assume  that  Mark  was  not 
justified   in   deserting  the   expedition. 

Hence  it  has  never  been  possible  for  Mark's  most 
ardent  admirers  wholly  to  clear  his  name  from  the 


JOHN  MARK  55 

stigma  of  lack  of  courage  and  consecration  on  this 
particular  occasion.  Here  was  the  one  great  mistake 
of  his  career  as  Barnabas  was  to  make  his  one  great 
mistake — a  mistake  we  have  already  considered.  In  i 
deserting  Barnabas  and  Paul,  Mark  was  deserting 
the  Cross  of  Christ  in  the  presence  of  danger;  and, 
doing  so,  he  forfeited  the  honor  and  privilege  of 
sharing  unto  the  end  the  work  of  the  first  world 
missionary  enterprise.  He  missed  an  opportunity 
that  can  never  again  recur  in  the  history  of  mankind. 

This  act  of  his  also  caused  the  severance  in  the 
relations  of  Barnabas  and  Paul.  Sometime  after  the 
triumphant  return  to  Antioch  of  these  two  heralds 
of  the  Cross,  Paul  proposed  to  Barnabas  that 
together  they  revisit  all  the  churches  they  li^d 
founded.  Barnabas  agreed,  but  insisted  upon  agnin 
taking  Mark  with  them.  Paul  peremptorily  refused 
because  he  thought  ''not  good  to  take  him  with 
them,  who  departed  from  them  from  Pamphylia,  and 
went  not  with  them  to  the  work."  Barnabas  re- 
mained firm.  Paul  was  no  less  so,  and  so  thoy  , 
parted — never  to  meet  again. 

Pitiful  as  this  quarrel  and  separation  was,  it  yet 
had  in  it  heroic  elements.  I  believe  each,  man  was 
actuated  by  what  he  considered  the  highest  motives, 
and  we  therefore  catch  a  glimpse  of  the  heroic  mold 
in  which  each  was  cast.  Deeply  as  they  loved  '^ach 
other,  profoundly  as  each  must  have  reverenced  the 
ability  of  the  other,  yet  each  was  ready  to  sacrifice 
earth's  holiest  friendship  to  his  sense  of  loyalty  to 
something  more  sacred  still — allegiance  to  his  sense 


56  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

of  duty,  to  conscience  enthroned  and  supreme.  The 
entire  careers  of  these  men  refute  the  charge  that 
they  could  be  actuated  by  base  motives  or  passions. 
Barnabas  alwaj^s  thought  of  self  last,  or,  rather,  he 
never  thought  of  self  at  all.  He  never  shunned  the 
face  of  danger  or  sought  personal  advancement;  he 
never  hesitated  to  take  a  subordinate  position  or 
clung  to  privilege  or  property,  even  when  these  were 
rightfully  his.  All  this  was  equally  true  of  Paul. 
The  greatest  glory  of  their  Lord  was  the  one  con- 
trolling motive  of  both  their  lives.  Hence  any 
criticism  of  their  conduct  in  this  crisis  hour  must  be 
a  criticism  of  their  judgments,  not  an  arraignment  of 
the  purity  of  their  motives,  or  the  consecration  of 
their  hearts. 

As  the  occasion  of  their  separation  and  its  bear- 
ings on  the  subsequent  careers  of  each  as  well  as  its 
significance  to  the  later  life  and  character  of  Mark 
himself,  are  still  moot  points  of  discussion,  it  may 
not  be  out  of  place  here  briefly  to  recapitulate  the 
arguments  of  various  authors  both  for  and  against 
the  conduct  of  the  two  chief  actors  in  the  drama. 
I  believe  the  majority  of  writers  are  inclined  to 
endorse  the  position  maintained  by  Paul.  I  am 
unable  to  agree  with  them. 

In  defense  of  Paul's  attitude  three  strong  argu- 
ments are  urged:  that  his  own  uncompromising 
courage  made  it  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  for  him 
to  believe  in  the  sincerity  of  one  less  brave;  that 
Paul  could  not  read  Mark's  future  nor  measure  his 
inherent  worth,  and,  as  far  as  he  knew,  Mark  might 


JOHN  MARK  57 

turn  out  another  Iscariot ;  that  it  was  not  a  personal 
matter  with  Paul  at  all,  nor  a  question  of  treating 
Mark  as  a  brother  in  Christ,  but  a  question  of  again 
making  a  foreign  missionary  of  one  who  had  already 
failed  as  such,  and  had  given,  as  yet,  no  sufficient 
proof  of  a  radical  change.  All  these  arguments  are 
weighty  and  must  be  accorded  their  due  importance. 

Against  Barnabas 's  position  there  are  two  argu- 
ments neither  of  which  is  it  easy  wholly  to  refute. 
It  is  argued  that  Barnabas  would  have  put  in 
jeopardy  the  success  of  the  entire  mission  had  Mark 
been  allowed  to  accompany  them  a  second  time. 
This  was  a  real  and  obvious  danger.  Paul's  whole 
attitude  was  based  upon  his  fear  that  such  would 
be  the  case.  It  is  also  argued  that  Barnabas,  con- 
sciously or  unconsciously,  was  influenced  by  his  kin- 
ship with  Mark.  This  insinuation  cannot  be  proven, 
and  even  if  it  could,  I  am  not  sure  but  that  it  brings 
closer  to  us  the  human  nature  of  Barnabas.  I  am 
not  sure  but  we  would  think  less  even  of  so  great  an 
Apostle  as  he,  if  his  heart  was  indifferent  to  the  ties 
of  kinship. 

Now  what  may  be  said  against  Paul's  attitude 
toward  Mark?  It  is  said  by  some  that  he  showed  a 
harsh  and  unforgiving  spirit ;  that  every  man  stands 
in  need  of  the  patience  and  forbearance  of  his 
Maker,  and  should  show  the  same  to  his  fellow  men; 
that  such  an  attitude  as  Paul's  would  discourage  aU 
who  had  once  failed  from  over  attempting  to  retrieve 
their  past ;  that  Christ  trusted  Peter  after  his  denial ; 
that  Paul  himself  once  stood  in  need  of  that  same 


58  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

sympathy  and  trust  on  the  part  of  Barnabas  which 
the  latter  was  now  extending  and  Paul  withholding 
from  Mark. 

We  have  already  seen  what  can  be  said  against 
Barnabas 's  position,  now  what  can  be  said  in  its 
defense?  First,  the  fact  that  Mark  was  ready  to 
accompany  Barnabas  and  Paul  into  those  very  same 
dangerous  regions  from  the  approach  to  which  he  had 
once  fled,  makes  the  assumption  warrantable  that 
he  had  expressed  his  deep  regret  for  his  former  con- 
duct and  given  every  possible  verbal  assurance  of 
loyalty  for  the  future.  When  Paul  was  converted 
and  did  this  same  thing,  Barnabas  believed  in  him  in 
the  teeth  of  universal  doubt,  suspicion,  and  fear. 
Now  he  does  the  same  thing  in  the  case  of  Mark. 
True  to  his  own  lofty  nature,  he  had  an  abiding 
faith  in  the  nobler  qualities  of  other  men — a  faith 
never  betrayed.  He  believed  in  forgiving  and  over- 
looking Mark's  error,  and  that  charity,  not  severity, 
would  inspire  and  encourage  the  former  delinquent. 
Again  it  may  fairly  be  argued  that  Barnabas  was  a 
close  student  of  human  nature  and  that  he  read  other 
men  more  profoundly  than  did  most  of  his  contem- 
poraries even  including  Paul  himself,  and  that  as  he 
had  formerly  seen  in  Paul  what  other  men  could  not 
see,  so  now  he  saw  in  Mark  what  Paul  could  not. 

But  whatever  may  be  said  for  or  against  either 
man's  position,  I  think  it  can  be  successfully  main- 
tained that  the  attitude  of  each  was  dictated  solely 
by  his  nobler  qualities,  not  by  ignoble  ones. — that 
Paul  was  afraid  of  jeopardizing  the  Lord's  work, 


JOHN  MAEK  59 

that  Barnabas  was  eager  to  save  the  man.  Which 
was  right  in  this  particular  instance  the  sequel  alone 
will  show. 

Ill 

The  Results  Which  Flowed  from  the  Separation  of 
Barnabas  and  Paul 

As  neither  man  would  surrender  his  convictions, 
and  as  compromise  was  impossible  to  such  staunch 
and  stalwart  natures,  we  are  informed  that  "the 
contention  was  so  sharp  between  them,  that  they 
departed  asunder  one  from  the  other :  and  so  Barna- 
bas took  Mark,  and  sailed  unto  Cyprus;  and  Paul 
chose  Silas,  and  departed,  being  recommended  by 
the  brethren  unto  the  grace  of  God. ' '  Which  friend 
was  in  the  right  in  this  unhappy  dissension  the  after 
story  of  Mark's  life  will  answer.  Perhaps  when  all 
has  been  said  on  the  controversy,  it  was  yet  the 
intention  of  Providence  that  the  men  should  not  con- 
tinue together  any  longer.  Each  was  now  perfectly 
capable  of  directing  an  independent  mission,  and  of 
training  up  other  men  to  be  independent  leaders  and 
their  own  successors;  so  their  separation  meant  two 
missionary  parties  instead  of  one,  and  the  enlisting 
of  new  recruits  on  the  part  of  Paul. 

But  let  us  for  the  present  follow  Barnabas  and 
Mark  to  Cyprus.  At  once  however  we  are  con- 
fronted with  the  fact  that  we  are  told  absolutely 
nothing  about  their  work  there.  Why  is  this?  Sev- 
eral answers  might  be  given  to  this  question:  that 
Xiuke  knew  nothing  of  its  details ;  that  it  was  wholly 


60  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

unimportant;  or,  perhaps,  which  is  most  probable, 
that  whatever  Barnabas  and  Mark  achieved  in 
Cyprus  their  work  was  outside  the  scope  of  Luke's 
plan  in  writing  Acts,  which  was  to  portray  the  lead- 
ing events  in  the  victorious  westward  rolling  tide 
of  Christian  conquests  as  the  soldiers  of  the  Cross 
swept  ever  on  toward  the  coasts  of  Europe,  ever 
hearing  the  West  acalling  as  the  setting  sun  sank 
low  over  the  waters  of  the  Mediterranean,  the 
Aegaean,  and  the  Adriatic. 

Now  it  is  assumed  by  some  that  Mark  went  to 
Cj^rus  with  Barnabas  to  comfort  the  latter  over  his 
separation  from  Paul  which  had  been  incurred  on 
his,  Mark's,  account.  I  believe  exactly  the  opposite. 
I  believe  that  Barnabas  took  Mark  for  Mark's  sake 
to  prove  unto  the  uttermost  his  confidence  in  his 
assurances  of  fidelity  for  the  future. 

As  Barnabas  at  this  point  entirely  disappears 
from  authentic  history,  it  is  quite  common  to  speak 
slightingly  of  this  trip  to  Cyprus,  to  regard  it  as  the 
final  fiasco  of  a  once  apparently  sterling  career.  It 
is  regarded  as  marking  the  obscuration  of  Barnabas, 
the  climacteric  failure  and  folh^  of  his  life,  as  he 
thereby  cut  himself  off  from  all  future  association 
with  the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles.  The  latter  fact 
is  of  course  true.  The  other  charges  need  investi- 
gating. As  to  farther  association  with  Paul,  that 
was  no  longer  necessary  for  he  had  already  done 
his  work  for  the  latter  in  opening  the  door  of  oppor- 
tunity at  Antioch  and  starting  him  on  a  missionary 
career  in  his  own  native  isle. 


JOHN  MARK  Gl 

Now  though  we  are  told  nothing  of  what  tran- 
spired during  Barnabas 's  and  Mark's  stay  in  Cyprus, 
we  are  not  therefore  cut  off  from  all  reasonable  con- 
jecture. In  fact,  we  may  go  beyond  conjecture  and 
rest  on  assured  grounds  of  fact.  If  it  were  certain 
that  Barnabas  never  achieved  anything  afterwards, 
if  it  were  known  that  he  died  at  the  close  of  that 
mission,  instead  of  his  life  having  been  snuffed  out 
in  obscuration  I  should  regard  it  as  having  departed 
in  a  blaze  of  glory.  Note  the  uncontrovertible  facts 
in  the  case  as  far  as  they  concern  John  Mark.  The 
last  thing  we  learned  about  him  before  this  second 
Cyprus  mission,  was  his  flight  from  the  work  at 
Pamphylia.  Ever  after  this  trip  with  Barnabas  we 
find  him  among  the  bravest  of  the  brave,  defying 
every  danger  in  his  loyalty  to  the  Cross,  and  ren- 
dering incalculable  service  to  the  cause  of  Christ. 
What  transformed  John  Mark,  the  craven,  into  John 
Mark,  the  Christian  gladiator?  There  is  but  one 
possible  answer — it  was  the  great-hearted  Barnabas 
there  on  the  island  of  Cyprus;  his  belief  in  the 
repentant 's  confessions  and  promises,  his  soothing 
and  healing  counsels,  his  companionship  and  friend- 
ship during  the  unknown  and  unheralded  days  or 
years  in  Cyprus.  And  yet  we  are  told  noth- 
ing is  known  of  that  insignificant  mission!  Noth- 
ing known?  Insignificant  mission?  Knowing  that 
it  was  the  saving  of  John  Mark  for  Christ  and 
His  work,  nothing  more  need  be  known.  Had 
Barnabas  never  rendered  a  single  previous  ser-  / 
vice  to  his  Lord  and  his  church,  this  alone  should 


62  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

immortalize  his  name.  It  was  the  saving  of  Mark 
for  life-long  missionary  service ;  it  was  the  saving  of 
Mark  for  the  authorship  of  the  first  written  biography 
of  our  Lord  which  has  come  down  to  us — a  service  to 
all  the  generations  yet  to  be;  it  was  the  saving  of 
Mark  for  after  years  of  companionship  and  co-oper- 
ation with  Paul  himself  and  with  Peter.  If  Barna- 
bas retired  to  Cyprus  solely  for  Mark's  sake,  if  he 
achieved  only  Mark's  restoration,  yet  even  so  he 
builded  better  than  he  knew  and  again  made  all 
Christianity  his  debtor. 

We  have  already  called  Barnabas  "the  discoverer 
of  St.  Paul."  To  this  title  of  honor  may  now  be 
added  another,  he  may  also  be  called  "the  restorer 
of  St.  Mark."  If  Barnabas  had  frowned  upon  him 
and  refused  him  Christian  fellowship  and  associa- 
tion as  Paul  seems  to  have  done  for  a  season,  there 
is  little  likelihood  that  he  would  have  become  the 
victorious  warrior  and  graphic  writer  that  he  after- 
wards was.  It  was  Barnabas  who  gave  Paul  his 
chance  and  who  trusted  Mark  and  called  to  his 
deeper  and  truer  self  after  his  notorious  failure,  and 
who,  therefore,  humanly  speaking,  opened  the  doors 
of  usefulness  to  these  two  giants  of  the  early  church. 

So  we  come  again  to  our  question  asked  so  often 
and  so  often  summarily  answered  in  Paul's  favor — 
who  was  right  in  the  dispute  which  separated  him 
from  Barnabas.  By  the  foregoing  discussion  that 
question,  I  believe,  has  already  been  answered  satis- 
factorily for  every  fair-minded  reader.     In  this  one 


JOHN  MARK  63 

instance  at  least,  Barnabas  showed  himself  a  man  of 
broader  charity  a  ad  deeper  insight  than  Paul. 

IV 

Mark's  Beconciliation  with  Paul 

It  is  a  matter  of  the  greatest  satisfaction  to  every 
Christian  to  know  that  Paul's  rupture  with  Mark 
was  only  temporary.  A  few  years  later  we  find 
them  completely  reconciled;  and  not  only  that,  but 
the  most  intimate  and  loyal  friends  and  co-workers. 
When  and  how  the  reconciliation  took  place,  and 
who  made  the  first  advances,  it  is  impossible  to  say. 
But  the  fact  of  the  restoration  of  their  former  cor- 
dial relations  seems  to  prove  several  things:  that 
Mark  cherished  no  vindictive  resentment  against 
Paul  for  his  rather  harsh  treatment;  that  he  had 
soon  given  such  overwhelming  proof  of  his  courage 
and  loyalty  to  Christian  service  that  Paul  no  longer 
had  any  doubts  in  regard  to  his  trustworthiness; 
and,  finally,  it  seems  to  prove  conclusively  that 
Paul's  rejection  of  him  as  a  companion  for  his  sec- 
ond missionary  enterprise  was  not  personal  in  its 
nature,  but  doubt  of  his  fitness  for  hazardous  ser- 
vice. 

In  Paul's  letters  to  the  Colossians  and  Philemon, 
written  from  his  prison  in  Rome  at  about  the  same 
time,  he  pays  a  touching  tribute  to  his  love  for 
Mark,  and  to  the  latter 's  helpfulness  to  him  in 
Christian  work.  Mark  was  with  Paul  at  the  time 
in  Rome. 


64  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

What  a  transformation  in  the  man  since  -we  first 
knew  him.  Once  he  had  fled  from  the  face  of  merely 
anticipated  dangers  at  Pamphylia,  now  he  is  ^^-tand- 
ing  beside  a  despised  prisoner  of  the  Cross,  defying 
the  terrors  of  Caesar  and  Imperial  Rome  herself. 
Paul  writes  of  him  to  the  Colossians  as  one  of  his 
three  staunch  Jewish  friends  who,  despite  all  the 
terrors  of  his  situation,  were  fearlessly  standing  by 
him  as  fellow  workers,  and  were  a  comfort  unto 
him.  It  also  appears  that  Mark  was  at  the  time  con- 
templating a  missionary  journey  to  Asia  Minor  in 
the  near  future  and  might  visit  Colossae;  and  that 
Paul  had  already  by  letter  or  messenger  commended 
him  to  their  hospitalit3^ 

Two  or  three  years  later  at  the  time  of  Paul's 
second  Roman  imprisonment  and  just  before  his 
death,  which  he  already  foresaw  as  imminent,  he 
wrote  to  Timothy,  who  was  probably  at  Ephesus, 
summoning  him  to  come  to  Rome  with  all  possible 
speed  and  to  pick  up  Mark  on  the  way  and  bring 
him  along  also  for  he  "was  profitable  unto  him  for  the 
ministry."  Only  Luke  was  with  Paul  at  the  time. 
In  his  dying  hour  the  old  warrior  wanted  Mark  with 
his  other  two  warmest  friends,  Luke  and  Timothy, 
to  be  with  him  and  give  him  comfort.  This  request 
of  Timothy  indicates  that  he  and  Mark  were  in 
touch  with  each  other's  movements;  that  Mark 
had  carried  out  his  intended  missionary  jour- 
ney referred  to  by  Paul  in  his  letter  to  the  Colos- 
sians ;  that  both  were  working  under  the  general  di- 
rection or  supervision  of  Paul ;  that  Mark  had  given 


JOHN  MARK  65 

such  proof  of  his  courage  by  his  presence  with  Paul 
during  his  first  imprisonment  that  the  Apostle  knew 
no  terrors  of  death  would  now  keep  him  from 
hastening  to  his  side  in  the  extremity  of  his  peril; 
and,  above  all  else,  it  shows  the  tenderness  of  the 
bonds  that  now  knit  their  hearts  together. 

Though  we  have  no  means  of  knowing,  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  Timothy  and  Mark  hastened  to 
Rome  and  were  with  Paul  in  his  last  days,  even 
unto  his  dying  hour. 

V 

Afark  and  St.  Peter 

We  have  already  seen  how  Mark 's  childhood  home 
at  Jerusalem  was  a  center  for  Christian  influence 
and  gatherings ;  and  that  Peter  when  released  from 
prison,  at  once  turned  his  steps  thitherward.  Some 
years  later  Mark's  relation  to  this  Apostle  was  re- 
newed for  the  blessing  of  all  mankind.  Just  when 
this  occurred  is  uncertain;  but  probably  it  took 
place  at  the  close  of  Mark's  second  journey  to 
Cyprus  in  the  company  of  Barnabas,  perhaps  the  call 
came  to  him  while  still  in  the  island.  At  all  events 
it  was  probably  before  his  reconciliation  with  St. 
Paul. 

Peter  was  at  the  time  laboring  in  Rome.  He 
sorely  needed  an  assistant  and  amanuensis.  None 
could  better  fill  the  position  than  his  spiritual  son, 
John  Mark,  child  of  the  godly  home  of  Mary,  one 
already  trained  in  missionary  service  by  such  men 
as  Paul  and  Barnabas.     Peter    sent    his    sum.mons 


66  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

across  the  seas.  Mark  heard  the  West  acalling. 
Barnabas  had  trusted  him,  Peter  trusts  him,  he  now 
knew  and  trusted  himself,  and  eagerly  he  responded, 
hastening  to  Peter's  side.  Peril  and  persecution 
and  hardship  had  lost  all  terror  for  him  forevermore. 
He  arrived  at  the  Imperial  City  and  there  labored 
with  St.  Peter.  For  how  many  years,  is  entirely  un- 
known. 

Peter's  first  letter  was  undoubtedly  written  from 
Rome.  It  is  addressed  to  ''the  strangers  scattered 
throughout  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Asia,  and 
Bithynia, ' '  and  contains  the  saluations  of  Mark  who 
was  with  Peter  in  Rome  at  the  time  of  its  writing. 
These  greetings  from  Mark  would  seem  to  imply, 
though  they  do  not  conclusively  prove,  that  he  was 
personally  known  to  those  addressed  and,  therefore, 
must  at  some  time  have  labored  among  them. 

But  the  greatest  fruit  of  Mark's  association  with 
Peter  and  his  supreme  service  to  Christianity  and  to 
the  world,  was  his  writing  of  the  second  Gospel, 
second  in  the  order  of  the  books,  first  in  order  of 
composition.  This  was  unquestionably  written  at 
Rome,  probably  almost  immediately  after  the  mar- 
tyrdom of  St.  Peter,  and  preserves  to  all  time 
the  portrait  of  the  Master  which  remained  most 
vivid  in  Peter's  mind,  and  records  the  incidents  of 
his  life  which  Peter  constantly  preached  and  retold. 
The  book  is  certainly  our  oldest  Gospel,  presents  the 
simplest  and  least  adorned  picture  of  Christ,  por- 
traying him  as  the  man  of  action  and  kindly  deeds ; 
and  not  so  much  as  the  preacher,  or  the  divine  Son 


JOHN  MARK  67 

of  God.  So  perfectly  is  the  book  believed  to  reflect 
the  mind  and  preaching  of  Peter  that  it  is  some- 
times called  ' '  The  Memoirs  of  Peter. ' ' 

VI 

Brief  Summary  of  the  Services  Rendered  to  Chris- 
tianity hy  Paul's  Friend  John  Mark 

The  manifold  services  of  this  great  and  accom- 
plishing friend  of  St.  Paul,  can  best  be  grouped  un- 
der four  general  divisions. 

First,  his  missionary  labors:  These  include  his 
first  journey  through  Cyrus  in  company  with  Paul 
and  Barnabas;  a  second  mission  to  Cyprus  with 
Barnabas  alone;  then  an  extensive  journey  in  Asia 
Minor,  perhaps  entirely  alone,  the  evidence  for 
which  is  found  in  Peter's  first  epistle,  and  in  PauPs 
letter  to  the  Colossians  and  his  second  to  Timothy. 
Besides  these  three  known  missionary  journeys,  tra- 
dition affirms  several  others  and  gives  considerable 
weighty  evidence  to  substantiate  its  assertions. 

Second,  the  eminent  men  with  whom  Mark  was 
associated  as  intimate  companion  and  fellow  mis- 
sionary in  the  city  of  Rome.  Among  whom  were 
Paul,  Peter,  Luke,  Tychicus,  Onesimus,  Aristarchus, 
Justus,  Epaphras,  and  Demas. 

Third,  his  authorship  of  the  second  Gospel. 

Fourth,  the  service  he  rendered  to  his  own  age 
and  all  time  by  showing  us  a  man  who  had  the 
courage  to  face  his  own  past  and  live  it  down,  and 
win  and  enjoy  the  friendship  and  confidence  of  such 
men  as  Peter,  Paul,  and  Barnabas.    He  is  a  living 


€8  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

example  of  the  power  of  Christ  to  make  a  mighty 
and  fearless  warrior  of  one  who  has  once  failed  and 
fled  from  the  face  of  battle.  He  is  the  living  proof 
that  Christ  trusts  such  again,  and  commits  to  them 
the  holiest  services  and  mightiest  tasks. 

VII 

What  Paul  and  the  Man  Who  Once  Forfeited  and 
Afterwards  Regained  His  Friendship  Mutually 
Oived  Each  Other 

It  is  undoubtedly  true  that  Mark  owed  far  more 
to  Barnabas  and  Peter  than  he  did  to  Paul.  But  if 
he  owned  nothing  else  to  Paul,  he  most  assuredly 
owed  this — the  inspiration  which  comes  from  the 
example  of  uncompromising  loyalty  to  a  work  once 
undertaken,  and  fearless  obedience  to  one's  life 
mission  whatever  the  perils  and  cost  to  self.  This 
lesson  Mark  once  sorely  needed,  and  doubtless  it 
had  a  steadying  power  on  his  after  life  which  must 
have  influenced  him  though  less  appreciably  yet  as 
surely  as  did  Barnabas 's  trusting  friendship  in  the 
crisis  of  his  career. 

On  the  other  hand  Paul  certainly  owed  much  to 
his  friend  Mark,  probably  more  than  Mark  to  him. 
Mark's  complete  retrieving  of  his  one  mistake  must 
have  taught  the  Apostle  to  the  Gentiles  the  need  of 
a  broader  and  kindlier  judgment  of  his  fellowmen; 
that  he  should  condone  their  weaknesses  and  be- 
lieve in  the  final  triumph  and  victory  of  their  better 
nature;  that  one  failure  does  not  spoil  a  life,  and 
that  there  may  be  divine  material  in  the  most  un- 


JOHN  MARK  69 

promising  of  men.  Certain  it  is  that  Paul  never 
again  failed  any  of  his  friends,  never  again  judged 
them  harshly.  Ever  afterwards  he  trusted  to  the 
uttermost  those  he  loved,  appealed  to  all  that  was 
noble  within  them,  committed  unto  them  the 
weightiest  responsibilities,  inspired  and  encouraged 
them  to  meet  and  conquer  weakness  and  temp- 
tations within,  difficulties  and  terrors  without. 

And  more  definitely  and  explicitly,  Paul  owed  to 
Mark  public  co-operation  in  his  missionary  work  at 
Rome;  also  the  most  intimate  personal  sympathy, 
comfort,  and  ministrations  while  he  languished  in  a 
prison  cell;  and,  we  may  believe,  his  presence  and 
consolations  in  his  dying  hour.  Beautiful  and  ten- 
der beyond  words  were  the  last  relations  of  these 
two  men.  What  personal  magnetism  and  genius  for 
friendship  had  Paul  to  call  forth  such  devotion  on 
the  part  of  one  whom  he  once  so  cruelly,  though  not 
vindictively,  had  wounded.  What  forgiveness  and 
forgetfulness  on  the  part  of  Mark.  What  a  heart 
of  gold  had  he.  What  nobility  to  call  forth  such 
love  from  the  great  Apostle,  what  nobility  to  accept 
the  other's  generous  restoration  of  himself  to  the 
secret  place  and  inner  circle  of  his  mighty,  throb- 
bing love  for  his  friends. 

I  would  not  contrast  such  friends.  I  would  not 
compare  them.  To  do  so  would  be  to  do  both  an 
injury  and  an  injustice.  The  years  purged  each  of 
all  dross  and  only  love  was  left. 

Nero  is  already  sharpening  the  axe  to  smite  down 


70  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

''such  a  one  as  Paul  the  aged."  Only  Luke  is  with 
him.  The  desolate  old  man  would  see  once  more 
before  he  suffers,  the  faces  of  his  best  loved  friends. 
He  hurls  a  message  across  the  seas  to  his  ''son'* 
Timothy — "Do  thy  diligence  to  come  shortly  unto 
me  .  .  .  .  take  Mark  and  bring  him  with  thee" 
— ^so  wrote  the  broken  warrior  in  his  last  message, 
in  his  dying  hour.  Surely  by  those  words  Mark  was 
compensated  for  all  he  had  ever  suffered.  The  cur- 
tain drops,  the  lights  go  out,  and  all  is  still. 


CHAPTER  IV 

Silafi — The  Man  St.  Paul  First  Trained  in  Missionary 
Work 


The  story  of  Silas's  career  is  based  upon  the  fol- 
lowing passages — Acts  chapters  15,  16,  17,  and  18; 
2nd  Cor.  1 :19,  1st  Thes.  1 :1,  2nd  Thes.  1 :1,  and  1st 
Peter  5:12. 


WHEN  Paul  had  his  rupture  with  Bar- 
nabas over  the  question  of  taking 
Mark  with  them  on  a  visitation  of 
the  churches  they  had  founded  on 
their  first  missionary  journey,  we  read  ''Paul  chose 
Silas,  and  departed,  being  recommended  by  the 
brethren  unto  the  grace  of  God.  And  he  went 
through  Syria  and  Cilicia,  confirming  the  churches. ' ' 
This  trip,  originally  planned  as  a  mere  visitation 
of  churches  already  existent,  was  lengthened  out  by 
the  guidance  of  the  Spirit  until  Paul  traversed  all 
Asia  Minor  and  entered  upon  the  conquest  of  Mace- 
donia and  Achaia,  and  is  known  to  history  as  Paul's 
** Second  Missionary  Journey."  It  has  proved  to  be 
one  of  the  most  momentous  journeys  in  the  history 
of  the  world, — greater  than  his  third  for  that  was 
largely  a  going  over  of  the  same  ground,  greater 

71 


72  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

than  the  first  for  that  covered  a  relatively  small 
territory.  How  great  this  second  journey  was  to  be 
even  Paul  did  not  dream  in  advance. — in  fact,  he 
never  had  any  adequate  conception  of  its  signifi- 
cance, one  could  not  have  had  in  the  age  in  which  it 
took  place.  But  some  things  Paul  must  have 
known ;  he  must  have  known  it  would  be  momentous 
and  hazardous.  And  hence  the  fact  that  of  all  men 
he  deliberately  chose  Silas  for  his  heart's  closest 
companion  and  constant  coworker  in  such  an  enter- 
prise and  field  of  peril,  is  in  itself  a  sufficient  certifi- 
cate of  character  for  Silas  and  a  sufficient  eulogy  of 
his  merits,  even  were  this  the  only  time  his  name 
were  mentioned  in  the  New  Testament. 

By  this  choice  on  the  part  of  Paul,  Silas,  in  the 
providence  of  God,  was  lifted  to  the  front  rank  of 
the  world's  missionaries  and  heralds  of  the  Cross. 
It  is  not  surely  known  that  Silas  had  had  any  pre- 
vious experience  or  training  in  missionary  labors. 
Paul's  experience  with  Barnabas  was  that  of  a  sub- 
ordinate at  first,  and  Mark  also  was  under  Barna- 
bas's  leadership,  not  Paul's,  so  neither  of  those 
friends  can  claim  the  unique  place  occupied  by  Silas. 
But  though  the  latter  was  the  first  to  be  trained  by 
Paul,  he  was  not  the  last.  A  score  of  other  young 
men  were  to  enjoy  the  same  arduous  privilege  in  the 
next  few  years,  and  thus  be  made  ready  to  take  up 
the  old  warrior's  fallen  mantle  when  he  should  cast 
it  aside,  and  so  perpetuate  his  life  work  and  mission. 


SILAS  73 

[ 

What  Is  Known  Ahoid  Silas  Up  to  the  Time  Paul 
Chose  Him  for  His  Travelling  Companion 

Of  his  early  years  and  conversion  we  know  abso- 
lutely nothing.  Tradition  declares  that  he  was  one 
of  the  Seventy  sent  out  by  our  Lord  during  his 
earthly  ministry;  but  there  is  no  authority  in  the 
New  Testament  for  this  assertion,  though  it  may  be 
true. 

Silas's  name  first  occurs  in  Acts  15:22 — ''Then 
pleased  it  the  Apostles  and  elders,  with  the  whole 
church,  to  send  chosen  men  of  their  own  company 
to  Antioch  with  Paul  and  Barnabas ;  namely,  Judas 
surnamed  Barsabas,  and  Silas,  chief  men  among  the 
brethren."  The  Jerusalem  Council  had  just  come 
to  a  unanimous  decision  with  reference  to  the  rules 
which  were  to  be  binding  on  the  Gentile  converts. 
The  decision  was  to  be  formulated  in  writing  and 
entrusted  to  Paul  and  Barnabas  to  deliver  to  the 
various  churches  of  Syria  and  Cilicia.  Also  verbal 
messages  and  greetings  were  to  be  sent  from  the 
mother  church,  and  so  it  seemed  best  to  send  along 
with  Paul  and  Barnabas  members  of  the  Council 
from  Jerusalem  to  make  assurance  doubly  sure.  The 
men  who  would  have  been  likely  to  be  chosen  for 
such  an  important  commission,  especially  in  view 
of  the  fact  that  there  were  oral  as  well  as  written 
instructions  to  be  delivered,  would  naturally  have 
been  those  who  commanded  the  full  confidence  of 
the  strictest  Jewish  Christians  of  Jerusalem.     Like- 


74  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

wise  they  had  to  be  men  of  great  ability  and  tact  and 
of  winning  personality,  lest  they  give  offense  to  the 
sensitive  Gentile  converts.  The  choice  of  the  Jeru- 
salem leaders  fell  upon  Judas  Barsabas  and  Silas, 
who,  we  are  told,  were  ''chief  men  among  the 
brethren. ' ' 

The  import  of  this  latter  declaration  should  not 
be  overlooked.  There  were  still  in  the  Jerusalem 
church  at  this  time  such  men  as  Peter  and  John,  and 
James  the  Lord's  brother,  as  well  as  other  eminent 
leaders.  Now  when  we  are  informed  that  Silas  was 
one  of  the  chief  men  in  such  a  company  we  are  not  in 
danger  of  overestimating  either  his  character  or  his 
ability.  We  are  also  told  in  connection  with  the 
fulfilment  of  his  mission,  that  he  was  a  successful 
prophet  and  preacher,  speaking  to  the  great  joy  and 
consolation  of  the  churches. 

Having  arrived  at  Antioch  Judas  and  Silas  for  a 
time  entered  enthusiastically  into  the  work  there. 
Finally  having  discharged  their  original  commission, 
*'they  were  let  go  in  peace  from  the  brethren  unto 
the  Apostles.  Notwithstanding  it  pleased  Silas  to 
abide  there  still."  Evidently  Silas  was  deeply 
impressed  by  the  enthusiasm,  breadth,  and  power  of 
the  work  at  Antioch  as  Barnabas  also  had  been 
when  he  first  came  in  contact  with  it,  having  been 
likewise  sent  thither  on  a  special  mission  by  the 
Jerusalem  church.  So  also  had  Paul  been  impressed 
when  he  first  came  to  Antioch,  brought  thither  by 
Barnabas.  Surely  here  were  the  surgings  of  mighty 
powers.      Silas    could   not   tear   himself   away,    he 


SILAS  75 

wanted  to  have  a  part  and  be  a  part  of  the  vast 
enterprises  which  here  had  their  birthplace.  So  '4t 
pleased  Silas  to  abide  there  still." 

Then  followed  the  proposal  of  Paul  to  Barnabas 
to  revisit  the  Gentile  churches,  their  quarrel  over 
Mark  and  their  final  separation,  and  Barnabas 's 
departure  with  Mark  to  Cyprus  leaving  Paul  still  at 
Antioch.  But  Paul  couldn't  abandon  his  proposed 
visitation  of  his  Gentile  converts,  so  he  chose  Silas, 
**and  departed,  being  recommended  by  the  brethren 
unto  the  grace  of  God." 

II 
Why  Paul  Chose  Silas 

Now  we  may  raise  the  question — why  did  Paul 
choose  Silas  for  a  companion  on  his  second  mission- 
ary journey?  Some  of  the  reasons  have  already 
been  indirectly  given  in  connection  with  previous 
topics,  but  it  will  be  convenient  to  set  them  down  in 
an  orderly  manner  by  themselves.  As  Silas  was  one 
of  Paul's  chief  friends  we  want  to  know  all  about 
him  that  we  can. 

We  might  note  in  the  first  place  that  Paul  never 
traveled  alone  if  he  could  possibly  avoid  it.  Not- 
withstanding his  unshakable  confidence  in  his  Lord, 
and  the  strength  and  independence  of  his  own  char- 
acter, his  yearning  heart  ever  clung  to  human 
friends;  he  always  wanted  them  near  him;  they  were 
his  comfort,  his  solace,  and  his  inspiration. 

Then,  too,  he  always  wanted  others  with  him  as 
helpers  in  the  work.     Christ  sent  out  the  Seventy, 


76  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

and  again  the  Twelve,  two  by  two.  Paul  began  his 
first  missionary  journey  with  two  companions,  and 
completed  it  with  one.  Experience  taught  him  both 
the  comfort  and  the  practical  value  of  human  com- 
panionship. The  work  of  missions  was  ever  too 
large,  too  lonely,  and  too  dangerous  for  any  man  to 
like  to  attempt  it  alone. 

But  all  this  does  not  throw  any  light  on  the  ques- 
tion why  Silas  was  the  particular  man  selected  at 
this  crisis  in  Paul's  career.  This  was  no  matter  of 
mere  chance  or  convenience.  There  were  ample  rea- 
sons both  of  policy  and  personality  why  the  choice 
fell  on  Silas.  As  to  reasons  of  policy:  Silas  was 
one  of  the  chief  men  of  the  strictly  Jewish  Christian 
church  at  Jerusalem,  and  commanded  the  confidence 
of  all  the  brethren  there;  Paul  was  more  than  will- 
ing that  such  a  one  should  accompany  him,  inspect 
his  work  among  the  Gentiles,  and  report  his  obser- 
vations to  the  home  church,  so  as  to  remove  any 
prejudice  which  might  be  still  lingering  against  him 
and  his  general  missionary  policy  among  the  Gen- 
tiles. Paul  also  wanted  with  him  a  strict  Jew  from 
Jerusalem  for  such  could  far  better  confirm  all  Gen- 
tile Christians  as  to  their  privileges  in  Christ  and  in 
the  Christian  church,  and  could  also  substantiate 
Paul's  affirmations  that  he  now  had  the  unanimous 
backing  and  endorsement  of  the  elders  and  Apostles 
at  Jerusalem;  Silas  was  already  accredited  by  the 
authority  of  the  Council  to  the  many  churches  Paul 
had  proposed  to  Barnabas  that  they  revisit;  and, 
lastly,  Silas  as  well  as  Paul  was  a  Roman  citizen, 


SILAS  77 

and   in   traveling  through   dangerous    regions   this 
might  prove  no  mean  advantage. 

When  we  pass  from  questions  of  policy  to  ques- 
tions of  personality  and  ask  why  Paul  chose  Silas, 
we  find  other  reasons  equally  cogent :  there  was  the 
native  ability  of  Silas  amply  proven  to  Paul  by  his 
standing  in  his  home  community  in  the  same  class 
with  Peter,  James,  and  John;  witnessed  to  also  by 
Paul's  own  observations  of  him  and  his  work  at  the 
Jerusalem  Council  and  in  the  church  at  Antioch; 
there  were,  too,  his  zeal,  consecration,  and  breadth 
of  mind  proven  by  his  immediate  and  eager  entrance 
into  the  work  at  Antioch,  despite  its  somewhat  Gen- 
tile complexion,  and  his  reluctance  to  return  to 
Jerusalem  even  after  his  original  commission  had 
been  discharged;  there  was  his  faultless  tact  in  so 
addressing  Gentile  converts  that  they  ^'rejoiced  for 
the  consolation;"  therefore  we  cannot  wonder  that 
of  all  men  Paul  selected  Silas  for  the  companion  of 
his  heart  and  the  sharer  of  his  perils.  We  cannot 
wonder  that  Paul's  affections  clave  unto  this  man 
and  that  his  judgment  endorsed  the  verdict  of  his 
love;  nor  can  we  wonder  that,  when  the  great 
Apostle's  summons  fell  on  the  wondering  ears  of 
Silas,  this  messenger  of  the  single  church  at  Jeru- 
salem to  the  scattered  churches  of  Syria  and  Cilicia, 
was  at  once  lifted  up  and  transformed  into  the  mis- 
sionary of  the  Cross  to  all  mankind.  Paul  had  a 
way  of  speaking  to  men  like  that — and  they  could 
not  say  him  nay. 


78  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

Up  and  down  through  the  streets  of  the  cities  of 
two  continents  this  man  Paul  who  once  was  exceed- 
ing mad  against  Christians  persecuting  them  even 
to  death  and  compelling  them  to  blaspheme,  up  and 
down  through  cities  and  across  deserts  and  over 
mountain  heights  he  traveled  year  after  year  and 
year  after  year,  preaching  Christ  and  peering  into 
the  faces  of  all  he  met,  looking  for  men,  men  of  abil- 
ity, courage,  and  consecration,  men  whom  he  could 
summon  to  forsake  all  and  follow  him;  men  whom 
he  could  train  to  multiply  his  personality  in  life  and 
perpetuate  his  mission  after  his  death;  men  upon 
whose  shoulders  his  mantle  could  some  day  fall,  men 
who  would  carry  the  Cross  into  the  "regions 
beyond"  when  his  own  tired  hands  should  be  folded 
in  infinite  peace  across  his  weary  breast.  At  Jeru- 
salem, and  again  at  Antioch,  he  peered  into  the  face 
of  this  man  Silas,  he  saw  there  the  making  of  a  hero, 
herald,  and  martyr.  The  fulness  of  time  came,  God 's 
clock  struck  the  hour,  Paul's  unexpected  challenge 
rang  in  Silas 's  soul,  and  he  forsook  all  and  followed 
him.  Paul  had  that  kind  of  way  about  him  with 
young  men,  and  be  it  said  to  the  glory  of  young  men 
they  had  a  way  of  answering  as  Silas  answered,  and 
about  their  dauntless  leader  on  many  a  distant  bat- 
tlefield, they  fought  as  did  the  Tenth  Legion  under 
the  eye  of  Caesar,  or  the  Old  Guard  under  the  eye 
of  Napoleon.  And  so  with  a  single  Lieutenant  com- 
posing his  entire  army,  St.  Paul,  that  greatest  of 
all   Field-Marshals   who    ever   led   the    soldiers   of 


SILAS  79 

Christ  to  battle,  set  forth  on  one  of  the  most  momen- 
tous campaigns  in  the  annals  of  mankind. 

Paul  and  Silas  were  Orientals  and  might  have 
turned  their  faces  toward  their  racial  kindred  of 
the  rising  sun.  But  they  turned  Westward — and 
nineteen  centuries  of  Christian  history  have  fol- 
lowed the  path  they  blazed. 

Ill 

The  Most  Significant  Invasion  Europe  Ever  Saw 

It  is  no  part  of  our  purpose  to  trace  in  detail  the 
events  of  Paul's  second  missionary  journey,  or  to 
write  the  biography  of  the  great  Apostle.  We  have 
to  do  only  with  his  friendships  and  his  friends,  and 
the  mutual  influence  they  and  he  had  on  each  others ' 
lives,  and  the  assistance  they  were  to  him  in  his  life 
work. 

At  once  on  leaving  Antioch  Paul  and  Silas  went 
through  Syria  and  Cilicia  confirming  the  churches. 
*' And  as  they  went  through  the  cities,  they  delivered 
them  the  decrees  for  to  keep,  that  were  ordained  of 
the  Apostles  and  elders  which  were  at  Jerusalem. 
And  so  were  the  churches  established  in  the  faith, 
and  increased  in  number  daily.  Now  when  they 
had  gone  throughout  Phrygia  and  the  region  of 
Galatia,  and  were  forbidden  of  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
preach  the  word  in  Asia,  after  they  were  come  to 
Mysia,  they  assayed  to  go  into  Bithynia:  but  the 
Spirit  suffered  them  not.  And  they  passing  by 
Mysia  came  down  to  Troas.*' 


80  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

In  all  this  long  journey  they  were  constantly 
strengthening  existing  churches  and  jointly  found- 
ing new  ones,  Silas  sharing  all  the  honors  and  all 
the  perils  and  responsibilities  of  this  magnificent 
pioneer  missionary  work.  Constantly,  too,  they  were 
ever  sweeping  Westward  unconscious  of  the  world- 
changing  purposes  of  God  which  were  to  be  wrought 
out  in  this  journey  through  their  instrumentality. 
So  at  last  these  pilgrims,  now  including  both  Tim- 
othy and  Luke  in  their  company,  have  reached  Troas 
on  the  Hellespont.  They  have  reached  this  spot  not 
alone  by  entering  open  doors,  but  also  by  being  com- 
pelled to  pass  by  closed  doors  they  fain  would 
have  entered.  Why  they  were  thus  thwarted 
remained  for  them  at  the  time  among  the  inscrutable 
mysteries  of  Providence.  But  God  had  his  purposes 
infinitely  larger  than  the  plans  of  even  such  men 
as  Paul  and  Silas,  and  gropingly  they  were  stum- 
bling along  to  the  fulfilment  of  the  Divine  decrees. 

So  here  these  four  men  are  at  Troas.  Doors  are 
closed  on  the  right  hand  and  on  the  left:  retreat  is 
impossible ;  the  sea  is  before  them — what  are  they  to 
do?  Late  into  the  night  perhaps  they  discuss  the 
strange  thwartings  of  the  Holy  Spirit  who  would  not 
suffer  them  to  preach  the  word  in  Asia  or  Bithynia. 
What  can  they  do,  where  proclaim  the  Cross  of 
Christ? 

It  was  a  troubled,  anxious  group.  They  gaze 
wistfully  at  the  setting  sun  as  its  dying  rays  light  up 
with  lurid  flame  the  green  isles  of  the  Aegaean.  It 
seems  to  be  beckoning  them  onward  to  follow  it  to 


SILAS  81 

its  hiding  place  beyond  the  Westward  world.  They 
talk  of  Greece  and  Rome  and  the  regions  beyond, 
and  covet  these  for  their  Lord.  Would  God  they 
might  have  the  honor  of  planting  the  Cross  on  Euro- 
pean soil.  And  as  they  talked,  these  four  men,  they 
wist  not  that  their  faces  shone. 

But  will  the  Holy  Ghost  permit  such  a  far  mis- 
sion? Asia  is  not  yet  won  for  Christ,  and  shall  they 
four,  feeble,  unarmed  men  attempt  the  conquest  of 
all  Europe?  Long  the  four  thus  anxiously  question 
the  leadings  of  the  Spirit.  The  night  waxes  late, 
their  problem  is  too  mighty  for  human  solution,  they 
pray  and  then  lie  down  to  rest — God  will  solve  their 
difficulties,  will  answer  their  prayers  and  aspira- 
tions in  the  way  that  is  best  for  them  and  for  the 
Kingdom. 

And  so  as  they  peacefully  and  trustingly  slept  *'a 
vision  appeared  to  Paul  in  the  night ;  There  stood  a 
man  of  Macedonia,  and  prayed  him,  saying  Come 
over  into  Macedonia,  and  help  us.  And  after  he  had 
seen  the  vision,  immediately  we  endeavored  to  go 
into  Macedonia,  assuredly  gathering  that  the  Lord 
had  called  us  for  to  preach  the  gospel  unto  them. 
Therefore  loosing  from  Troas,  we  came  with  a 
straight  course  to  Samothracia,  and  the  next  day 
to  Neapolis." 

And  so  four  men — Paul,  Silas,  Timothy,  and  Luke 
— compose  the  entire  army  that  undertook  the 
mightiest  conquest  in  the  annals  of  mankind, — the 
conquest  of  pagan  Europe  for  the  crown  of  Jesus 
Christ. 


82  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

Pour  hundred  years  earlier,  near  this  same  spot, 
Xerxes  crossed  the  Hellespont  with  an  army  of  a 
million  men  for  the  conquest  of  tiny  Greece  alone — 
and  he  failed.  But  now  four  men,  armed  only  with 
the  sword  of  the  Spirit  and  led  by  the  Prince  of 
Peace,  undertook  the  conquest  of  all  Europe,  and  so 
inaugurated  a  campaign  which  was  to  be  fought  on 
till  victory  should  crown  the  banners  of  the  soldiers 
of  the  Cross.  And  Silas  is  one  of  the  four,  is  him- 
self one-fourth  of  this  initial  army  of  conquest.  To 
such  honor  has  his  friendship  with  St.  Paul  brought 
him.  Into  his  soul  the  great  Apostle  had  breathed 
his  own  master  passion  and  he  was  lifted  to  the 
heights  where  stood  his  mightier  friend.  Paul  did 
this  sort  of  thing  for  the  lieutenants  he  gathered 
about  him  and  hurled  against  the  ramparts  of 
paganism. 

They  went  down  to  Philippi  and  there  Silas  shared 
with  Paul  in  the  founding  of  that  powerful  church ; 
there  also  with  Paul  he  faced  every  danger  and  with 
him  was  thrust  into  the  inner  prison  with  his  feet 
made  fast  in  the  stocks;  and  there  at  midnight  he 
and  Paul  prayed  and  sang  praises  until  the  old 
Philippian  jail  rang  again.  Surely  Paul  chose 
wisely  when  he  chose  Silas  to  be  the  companion  of 
his  perils,  here  was  one  who  could  sing  whatever 
betide.    He  was  a  man  after  Paul's  own  heart. 

Together  they  journeyed  on  to  Thessalonica  and 
here  again  Silas  became  the  joint-founder  with  Paul 
of  a  great  church,  and  with  him  shared  the  glory  of 
their  foes'  indictment  that  they  had  ''turned  the 


SILAS  83 

world  upside  down."  Leaving  Thessaloniea  they 
came  to  Berea  and  preached  there.  Here  Paul  being 
almost  immediately  driven  out,  Silas  and  Timothy 
remained  to  consolidate  the  work,  which  fact  would 
seem  to  indicate  that  Silas  was  no  less  brave  than 
Paul  and  at  the  same  time  was  a  man  of  greater 
tact  in  dealing  with  a  critical  and  dangerous 
situation. 

From  Berea  Paul  went  to  Athens  and  thence  to 
Corinth  where  he  was  rejoined  by  Silas  and  Timothy. 
Apparently  he  reached  Corinth  in  a  state  bordering 
on  collapse.  But  on  the  arrival  of  his  two  friends 
Silas  and  Timothy  from  Macedonia,  he  became, 
through  their  sympathy  and  encouragement,  his  old 
self  once  more,  ''and  being  pressed  in  the  spirit 
testified  to  the  Jews  that  Jesus  was  Christ."  In 
Paul's  second  letter  to  the  Corinthians  he  refers  to 
Silas  as  one  of  the  founders  of  this  church  also. 

At  this  point  the  name  of  Silas  abruptly  and  per- 
manently disappears  from  the  narrative  in  Acts. 
Why  this  is  so  it  is  impossible  to  say,  and  conjecture 
is  practically  valueless.  There  are,  however,  two 
suggested  reasons  which  we  may  glance  at  in  pass- 
ing. One  is  that  Silas  stayed  behind  in  Corinth 
when  Paul  finally  departed,  and  that  Acts  concerns 
itself  only  with  the  subsequent  movements  of  Paul. 
This  view  is  not  well  sustained,  though  it  may  be 
impossible  wholly  to  disprove  it.  The  other  theory 
is  that  when  Silas  left  his  home  in  Jerusalem  he  did 
not  contemplate  an  absence  of  more  than  a  few 
weeks  at  most,  nor  a  journey  farther  than  to  Cilicia ; 


84  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

yet  already  on  his  arrival  at  Corinth  he  had  been 
away  from  home  several  years,  and  journeyed  clear 
across  Asia  Minor  and  into  Europe ;  but  now,  at  last, 
it  is  conjectured,  it  was  imperative  that  he  return 
home  at  once.  Now  while  the  first  part  of  this  argu- 
ment is  unquestionably  true,  there  is  not  a  particle 
of  evidence  to  sustain  the  conclusion  arrived  at ;  yet 
it  must  be  said  that  this  course  of  reasoning  has  all 
the  merits  of  plausibility  and  may  very  well  have 
been  the  facts  of  the  matter.  At  any  rate,  there  is 
not  a  scintilla  of  evidence  that  any  shadow  fell 
athwart  the  friendship  of  Paul  and  Silas,  or  that 
Silas  was  ever  found  wanting  in  his  sacrifices  for  the 
Cross.  A  few  years  later  we  find  him  Peter's  aman- 
uensis at  Rome  and  the  bearer  of  his  first  epistle  to 
**the  strangers  scattered  throughout  Pontus,  Gala- 
tia,  Cappadocia,  Asia,  and  Bithynia,"  in  part  of 
which  regions  he  had  in  earlier  years  jointly  with 
Paul  been  the  founder  of  many  churches. 

And  so  the  after  life  of  Silas  abundantly  justified 
St.  Paul  in  choosing  him  of  all  men  to  be  the  com- 
panion of  his  second  missionary  journey — the  great- 
est missionary  journey  in  the  annals  of  Christianity. 

IV 

What  the  Friendship  of  Paul  and  Silas  Meant  to 
Each 

To  Silas  the  friendship  of  Paul  meant  the  lifting 
of  himself  to  Paul's  moral  hight  and  outlook,  the 
sharing  of  Paul's  master  passion  for  souls,  the  privi- 
lege of  linking  his  name  forever  with  Paul's  second 


SILAS  85 

missionary  journey,  the  opportunity  and  joy  of 
sharing  Paul's  labors  and  perils  from  Antioch  across 
Asia  Minor  to  Troas,  across  the  Hellespont  to 
Philippi,  across  Macedonia  and  Greece  to  the  city  of 
Corinth. 

And  the  friendship  of  Silas  meant  to  Paul  the  fill- 
ing of  the  void  in  his  heart  made  by  his  separation 
from  Barnabas;  it  meant  the  closest  sympathy  and 
companionship  for  weary  years  of  labor  in  many  a 
hostile  city,  and  in  journey ings  over  hundreds  of 
leagues  of  unknown  mountains  and  perilous  valleys. 
It  meant  the  staunchest  assistance  in  the  founding  of 
churches  all  through  Asia  Minor,  and  of  the  great 
European  churches  at  Philippi,  Thessalonica,  and 
Corinth.  It  meant  the  consolidating  and  perfecting 
of  his  abruptly  terminated  work  at  Berea,  and  the 
counsel  freely  given  together  with  Timothy's,  in  the 
composition  of  the  two  letters  to  the  church  at 
Thessalonica,  which  were  written  under  the  joint 
names  and  salutations  of  the  three  men. 

And  if,  as  seems  probable,  Silas's  mission  to  the 
many  churches  of  Asia  Minor  under  the  direction  of 
St.  Peter  was  after  Paul 's  death,  then  we  have  in  his 
friendship  with  Paul  one  of  the  hall-marks  of  the 
world  significance  of  a  great  friendship — the  perpet- 
uation of  a  man's  life  work  through  his  friends  after 
his  own  death ;  for  it  was  among  some  of  these  very 
churches  to  which  Peter  wrote,  that  Paul  labored 
many  years,  to  the  care  of  these  that  he  gave  such 
nights  of  sleepless  anxiety,  and  to  some  of  them  that 


86  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

he  himself  wrote  in  a  passion  of  blood  and  tears  and 
awful  imprecations  that  Galatian  Epistle. 

And  so  it  is  a  fitting  close  to  the  life  of  this  friend 
of  Paul's,  that  our  last  glimpse  of  him  should  find 
him  setting  out  on  a  mission  to  that  very  field  where 
he  and  Paul  had  labored  so  long  and  faithfully  to- 
gether, and  that  his  last  known  work  should  be  a 
sort  of  sealing  to  that  departed  Christian  gladiator 
of  still  more  fruit  in  a  region  which  had  cost  him 
such  labor,  anguish,  and  prayer. 


CHAPTER  Y 

Timothy — Paul's  Best  Loved  Friend 


The  story  of  Timothy's  career  is  contained  in  the 
following  books  and  passages : — Acts  16 :1,  20 :4,  Rom. 
36:21,  1  Cor.  4:17,  16:30-11,  2  Cor.  1:1  and  19,  Phil. 
1:1  and  2:19-23,  Col.  1:1-15,  1  Thes.  1:1  and  3:2-6, 
2  Thes.  1  :l-2,  Phm.  1  :l-3,  and  the  books  of  1st  and 
2nd  Timothy,  and  Heb.  13:23. 


rxT 


**^  J  ^HOU  therefore,  my  son,  be  strong  in  the 
grace  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus.  And  the 
things  that  thou  hast  heard  of  me  among 
many  witnesses,  the  same  commit  thou  to 
faithful  men,  who  shall  be  able  to  teach  others  also. 
Thou  therefore  endure  hardness,  as  a  good  soldier 
of  Jesus  Christ." 

So  wrote  the  aged  Paul  from  his  dungeon  in 
Rome  to  his  youthful  friend  Timothy,  pastor  at 
Ephesus,  scores  of  leagues  away  across  the  seas. 
The  words  are  found  in  the  last  letter  the  old  war- 
rior ever  wrote,  and  were  probably  penned  and  dis- 
patched only  a  few  days  or  weeks  before  he  received 
his  crown.  The  above  quotation  contains  and  illus- 
trates the  two  profoundest  of  the  world-significant 
phases  of  human  friendship,  those  two  great  princi- 

87 


88  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

pies  which  we  are  striving  ever  to  keep  prominently 
before  us  in  our  study  of  St.  Paul  and  those  friend- 
ships of  his  which  have  changed  the  world: — first, 
that  in  a  true  friendship  the  stronger  friend  is  ever 
lifting  the  weaker  and  lesser  to  his  own  hights  of 
courage  and  achievement,  and  so  multiplies  himself 
in  life;  and,  second,  by  thus  pouring  into  the  heart 
and  soul  of  another  his  one  master  passion,  his  own 
life  and  mission  are  perpetuated  in  the  life  and 
mission  of  his  surviving  friends  and  the  generations 
that  follow. 

The  important  place  held  by  Timothy  in  the  New 
Testament  and  in  the  early  church,  is  evidenced  in 
many  ways,  most  of  which  we  shall  endeavor  to 
touch  upon.  But  superficially  Timothy's  importance 
is  brought  prominently  to  our  notice  by  the  fact  that 
his  name  occurs  in  twelve  of  the  twenty-seven  books 
of  the  New  Testament: — Acts,  Romans,  1st  and  2nd 
Corinthians,  Philippians,  Colossians,  1st  and  2nd 
Thessalonians,  1st  and  2nd  Timothy,  Philemon,  and 
Hebrews. 

Not  one  of  the  Twelve  Apostles  is  named  in  nearly 
so  many  books.  In  fact  the  name  of  no  other  man 
is  found  in  so  many  save  that  of  Paul  only  which 
is  found  in  fifteen  books : — his  own  thirteen  epistles, 
and  Acts  and  2nd  Peter.  Timothy  also  holds  the 
unique  distinction  of  being  the  only  man  to  whom 
two  of  the  inspired  books  of  Scripture  were  origin- 
ally written  as  private  letters  of  a  friend.  In  making 
this  statement  I  do  not  forget  that  Luke  addressed 
both  his  Gospel  and  Acts  to  "  Theophilus. "       But 


TIMOTHY  89 

whether  this  name  is  that  of  an  individual  friend, 
or  a  generic  term  for  all  the  "loved  of  God," 
certainly  the  contents  of  these  two  books  were  never 
intended  to  be  understood  as  private  personal 
letters. 

I 

Vindication  of  the  Title  to  This  Chapter 

In  choosing  the  title  for  this  sketch — **  Timothy, 
the  best  loved  friend  of  St.  Paul" — I  have  taken  one 
which  most  appropriately  characterizes  the  tender 
personal  relation  which  existed  between  the  two 
men.  I  much  doubt  if  any  one  will  be  disposed 
seriously  to  contest  the  use  of  the  superlative  in 
this  phrase. 

In  the  whole  range  of  the  world's  literature  and 
history  there  are  few  friendships  which  can  be 
compared  to  that  of  Paul  and  Timothy.  In  Scripture 
I  can  find  but  two  which  seem  to  me  worthy  to  stand 
with  theirs — the  friendship  of  David  and  Jonathan, 
and  that  of  Christ  and  the  Apostle  John.  Both  of 
these  were  equal  to  Paul's  with  Timothy  in  the 
intensity  of  their  love,  in  all  other  respects  they 
radically  differed.  But  I  would  not  emphasize  the 
divergences  in  these  three  great  and  unique  friend- 
ships. I  would  simply  claim  a  place  for  that  of 
Paul  and  Timothy  on  a  par  with  the  other  two  in 
its  intensity,  purity,  and  unselfishness.  In  these 
high  qualities  these  three  friendships  stand  apart 
in  the  Sacred  Scriptures — there  is  no  fourth. 


90  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

As  I  study  the  relations  of  these  two  men,  Paul 
and  Timothy,  and  ponder  all  the  wealth  of  endearing 
and  solicitous  language  the  former  employs  in  his 
letters  to  the  latter  and  in  his  references  to  him  in 
his  epistles  to  the  various  churches,  it  seems  to  me 
that  Paul's  affection  for  his  younger  friend  partook 
of  something  of  the  nature  of  every  possible  tender 
human  tie.  Timothy  is  at  one  and  the  same  time 
his  friend  and  his  brother.  Paul  loves  him  as  a  father 
loves  an  only  son,  as  a  strong  man  loves  a  weak  and 
confiding  woman, — yes,  more,  as  a  mother  loves  and 
yearns  over  a  helpless,  crippled  child.  There  is 
something  almost  pathetic  in  the  might  of  this 
strong  man's  imperious  tenderness  for  "his  child 
Timothy." 

Were  we  to  bring  forward  specific  evidence  of 
the  intensity  of  Paul's  love  for  Timothy,  we  should 
find  it  in  the  domestic  terms  he  uses  in  speaking  of 
and  writing  to  him :  four  times  he  calls  Timothy  his 
"brother,"  five  times  he  is  his  "son."  We  should 
find  it  in  his  words  of  endearment:  Timothy  is  his 
"beloved,"  his  "dearly  beloved."  We  should  find  it 
in  his  words  of  praise  and  commendation:  he  tells 
the  Romans  Timothy  is  his  ' '  workf ellow ; "  he  writes 
the  church  at  Corinth  that  Timothy  is  "faithful  in 
the  Lord"  and  "worketh  the  work  of  the  Lord,  as 
I  also  do;"  from  his  Roman  prison  he  informs  the 
Philippians  that  he  has  with  him  "no  man  like- 
minded"  with  Timothy,  "who  will  naturally  care 
for  their  state,"  and  reminds  them  that  "they  know 
the  proof  of  him,  that,  as  a  son  with  the  father,  he 


TIMOTHY  91 

hath  served  with  me  in  the  Gospel ; "  to  the  Thessa- 
lonian  church  he  speaks  of  Timothy  as  "the  minister 
of  God  and  our  fellow  laborer  in  the  Gospel  of 
Christ." 

Were  we  to  seek  farther  confirmation  of  Paulas 
affection,  we  should  find  it  in  the  language  and 
tone  of  parental  solicitude  which  ever  surges  to  the 
surface  whenever  in  his  letters  he  has  occasion  to 
mention  the  name  of  his  "son  Timothy."  He 
beseeches  the  Corinthians  that  if  he  come  unto  them 
they  should  see  to  it  he  did  so  without  fear,  and 
that  no  man  should  despise  him  but  conduct  him 
forth  at  his  departure  in  peace.  And  almost  every 
word  and  phrase  of  his  two  letters  to  Timothy  are 
athrill  and  atremble  with  this  paternal  anxiety  for 
his  personal  wellbeing  and  public  conduct  and 
success. 

II 

Timothy  \s  Early  Life  and  His  Enlistment  by  St.  Paul 

Timothy's  native  town  was  Lystra,  a  city  in  the 
south-central  part  of  Asia  Minor.  While  his  mother 
was  a  Jewess,  his  father  was  a  Greek;  but  his 
training  was  strictly  that  of  a  Hebrew  youth.  His 
conversion  to  Christianity  evidently  took  place  when 
he  was  quite  young,  occurring  at  the  time  Paul  and 
Barnabas  visited  his  home  town  on  their  first  mis- 
sionary journey.  Although  his  name  is  not  mentioned 
by  Luke  in  his  narrative  of  that  event,  yet  when 
Paul  and  Silas  visit  Lystra  on  the  former's  second 
missionary  journey  Timothy  is  not  only  well  known 


92  SAINT  PAUL'S  FEIENDSHIPS 

as  a  Christian  worker  in  his  own  city  but  also  at  the 
neighboring  town  of  Iconiiim. 

That  he  was  converted  through  Paul's  efforts  is 
abundantly  proved  by  Paul's  phrase  "my  own  son 
in  the  faith."  When,  therefore,  Paul  and  Silas 
reached  Lystra  and  heard  the  splendid  reports  of 
Timothy's  character  and  activity,  the  Apostle  at 
once  determined  to  attach  Timothy  to  himself  and 
enlist  him  in  his  life  work.  If  on  this  journey  Silas 
filled  the  place  made  vacant  in  Paul's  heart  by  his 
abrupt  separation  from  Barnabas,  Timothy  was 
destined  to  more  than  fill  the  place  of  John  Mark. 
And  so  he  became  the  second  man  whom  Paul  was 
to  train  in  missionary  service,  and  into  whose  soul 
he  was  to  breathe  the  inspiration  and  zeal  of  his  own 
master  passion. 

Either  at  this  time  or  some  years  later  when 
Timothy  became  pastor  of  the  church  at  Ephesus, 
he  was  solemnly  set  apart  for  Christian  service  by 
the  laying  on  of  the  hands  Paul  and  the  Presbytery, 
and  by  words  of  prophecy.  If  the  ordination  took 
place  at  this  time,  it  is  more  than  likely  that  the 
prophecies  were  uttered  by  Silas,  who,  we  are  told, 
was  a  prophet  as  well  as  preacher  and  missionary. 

So  now  the  old  circle  of  three  is  again  complete 
and  Paul  and  his  two  new  companions  with  glowing 
faces  turned  toward  the  great  unknown  West,  and 
with  ever  hurrying  footsteps  eagerly  answered  the 
Spirit's  summons  to  "the  regions  beyond.'* 


TIMOTHY  93 

III 

Timothy's  Fivefold  Service  to  Christianity 

Id  the  providence  of  God  and  inspired  by  the  love, 
leadership  and  guidance  of  St.  Paul,  Timothy  was 
destined  to  render  a  fivefold  service  to  his  own  and 
all  subsequent  generations  of  the  Christian  church. 
Perhaps  it  is  well  to  distinguish  these  and  speak  of 
each  separately,  thus  conveying  to  our  minds  a  more 
distinct  impression  of  the  length  and  breadth  and 
hight  of  his  services,  though  by  so  doing  we  shall 
not  be  able  to  give  each  its  proper  setting  in  con- 
nection with  other  services  he  was  simultaneously 
rendering. 

1 

Timothy's  Service  as  an  Itinerant  Missionary 

As  we  have  seen,  Timothy  was  drafted  by  St. 
Paul  as  soon  as  he  and  Silas  reached  Lystra  on 
Paul's  second  missionary  journey.  Together  with 
them  he  journeyed  and  labored  till  they  had  swept 
in  a  northwesterly  direction  up  across  Asia  Minor 
to  Troas,  opposite  the  Macedonian  shore.  He  was 
one  of  that  immortal  four  who  invaded  Europe,  first 
claiming  that  continent  for  Jesus  Christ.  With  Silas 
and  St.  Paul  he  helped  found  the  churches  at 
Philippi  and  Thessalonica;  but  he  was  not  as 
aggressive  as  his  two  older  companions.  We  infer 
this  from  the  fact  that  at  neither  place  is  there  any 
reference  to  his  personal  safety  being  endangered. 
At  Berea  he  tarried  behind  with  Silas  to  complete 


94  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

and  consolidate  the  work  inaugurated  by  Paul,  but 
from  which  the  latter  had  been  driven  forth  by- 
persecution. 

Arriving  at  Athens  Paul  sent  back  a  hasty 
message  for  Timothy  and  Silas  to  join  him  there; 
but  on  the  arrival  of  the  former  he  immediately 
dispatched  him  to  Thessalonica.  On  his  return  from 
that  mission  he  found  Paul  had  left  Athens  and 
gone  to  Corinth.  There  he  and  Silas  joined  their 
leader  and  aided  him  in  founding  the  powerful 
church  in  that  city. 

Nothing  more  is  heard  of  him  until  we  find  him 
again  with  Paul  at  Ephesus  on  the  latter 's  third 
missionar}^  journey.  Conjecture  as  to  his  movements 
during  the  intervening  period,  is  utterly  idle — he 
may  have  gone  with  Paul  back  to  Antioch,  he  may 
have  remained  behind  at  Corinth  or  in  Macedonia, 
or  he  may  have  gone  to  Ephesus  and  there  awaited 
Paul's  return  from  Antioch,  we  cannot  say  which. 

After  serving  Paul  in  an  important  mission,  which 
will  be  dealt  with  in  its  proper  place,  he  rejoined 
him  at  Ephesus,  then  together  they  again  labored 
among  the  Macedonian  churches  which  they  with 
Silas  and  Luke  had  founded  on  a  former  journey. 
He  also  at  this  time  accompanied  Paul  on  his  journey 
through  Greece,  and  with  him  preached  at  Corinth. 
When  Paul  finally  set  out  from  Macedonia  on  his 
last  journey  to  Jerusalem,  he  was  one  of  the  large 
company  of  evangelists  whom  the  former  had  gath- 
ered about  him.  ''And  there  accompanied  him  into 
Asia  Sopater  of  Berea;  and  of  the  Thessalonians, 


TIMOTHY  95 

Aristarchus  and  Seciindus ;  and  Gains  of  Derbe,  and 
Timotheus;  and  of  Asia,  Tychicus  and  Trophimus. '  * 

Timothy's  name  is  not  again  mentioned  in  con- 
nection with  this  momentous  journey  of  St.  Paul. 
Some  conjecture  that  he  accompanied  Paul  to 
Jerusalem :  others  that  he  was  left  behind  as  pastor 
of  the  church  at  Ephesus.  There  is  no  clear  evidence 
to  settle  the  question. 

His  subsequent  movements  are  impossible  to  trace 
in  any  definite  and  connected  manner.  But  from 
scattered  references  in  the  epistles  of  Paul  to  the 
churches  of  Macedonia,  Greece,  and  Asia  Minor,  and 
to  Timothy  himself,  we  know  that  he  was  ever 
diligently  doing  the  work  of  an  evangelist.  We 
know  also  that  he  was  for  a  time  with  St.  Paul 
during  his  first  imprisonment,  for  he  is  associated 
with  him  in  the  authorship  of  several  letters  written 
at  Rome,  and  also  we  have  Paul's  worct  that  he  was 
contemplating  sending  him  from  Rome  on  a  mission 
to  Philippi.  And  later  on,  as  we  learn  from  Paul's 
second  letter  to  him,  written  during  the  former's 
second  imprisonment  at  Rome,  he  was  again  laboring 
in  the  far  East  probably  once  more  at  Ephesus. 

In  all  likelihood  he  answered  Paul's  last  summons 
to  join  him  in  Rome.  At  some  time  during  this 
period  he  was  himself  imprisoned  for  a  time,  but 
subsequently  set  at  liberty,  as  we  learn  from  the 
epistle  to  the  Hebrews.  Of  his  later  years  and 
death  nothing  is  definitely  known;  but  traditions  of 
considerable  weight  declare  that  he  rounded  out  his 


96  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

career  as  settled  pastor  or  bishop  of  Ephesus,  and 
there  crowned  his  service  to  Christ  with  a  glorious 
martyrdom. 

2 

Timothy's   Service   as    the   Executor   of   Important 
Commissions 

We  have  the  record  of  three  such  commissions 
which  we  know  Timothy  executed,  and  there  is  a 
fourth  which  Paul  had  in  contemplation  and  may 
have  had  him  carry  out,  though  we  have  no  informa- 
tion that  makes  this  certain. 

The  first  of  these  missions  which  was  entrusted 
to  Timothy  occurred  on  Paul's  second  missionary 
journey  when  he  sent  him  from  Athens  to  Thessa- 
lonica.  The  importance  of  this  and  Timothy's 
eminent  success  in  executing  it  can  best  be  attested 
by  transcribing  Paul's  own  words.  '* Wherefore 
when  we  could  no  longer  forbear,  we  thought  it 
good  to  be  left  at  Athens  alone ;  and  sent  Timotheus, 
our  brother,  and  minister  of  God,  and  our  fellow 
laborer  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  to  establish  you,  and 
to  comfort  you  concerning  your  faith:  that  no  man 
should  be  moved  by  these  afflictions :  for  yourselves 
know  that  we  are  appointed  thereunto. — For  this 
cause,  when  T  could  no  longer  forbear,  I  sent  to 
know  your  faith,  lest  by  some  means  the  tempter 
have  tempted  you,  and  our  labor  be  in  vain.  But 
now  when  Timotheus  came  from  you  unto  us,  and 
brought  us  good  tidings  of  your  faith  and  charity, 


TIMOTHY  97 

and  that  ye  have  good  remembrance  of  us  always, 
desiring  greatly  to  see  us,  as  we  also  to  see  you: 
therefore,  brethren,  we  were  comforted  over  you  in 
all  our  affliction  and  distress  by  your  faith." 

On  Paul's  third  missionary  journey,  while  he 
tarried  and  labored  at  Ephesus,  he  sent  Timothy 
with  Erastus  on  a  mission  to  the  Macedonian 
churches.  Of  the  nature  and  success  of  this  trip  we 
have  no  record.  As  an  extension  of  this  same 
mission,  or  soon  after  it,  Timothy  was  sent  on 
matters  of  great  moment  to  the  church  at  Corinth. 
Paul  had  grave  fears  as  to  his  reception  there,  and 
also  as  to  the  success  of  his  visit.  These  fears  were 
amply  justified  for  Timothy  appears  to  have  utterly 
failed  in  his  efforts  to  settle  the  troubles  of  the 
church,  necessitating  the  dispatching  of  Titus  to  the 
scene  of  difficulty. 

A  fourth  mission  on  which  Paul  contemplated 
sending  Timothy  was  from  Rome  to  the  church  at 
Philippi.  This  intention  Paul  announced  in  his 
letter  to  that  church.  Whether  Timothy  was  sent 
thither  or  not  is  unknown,  but  as  we  later  find  him 
laboring  again  in  the  East  it  is  quite  probable  that 
he  took  in  Philippi  on  the  way.  Whatever  the 
varying  successes  of  these  four  missions,  the  fact 
that  Paul  committed  them  unto  Timothy  shows  his 
confidence  in  the  latter 's  ability,  and  also  proves 
Timothy's  willingness  to  undertake  critical  and 
hazardous  enterprises  under  the  direction  of  his 
leader  and  for  the  glory  of  his  Lord.  At  Thessa- 
lonica  he  was  preeminently  successful :  his  failure  at 


98  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

Corinth  may  not  reflect  upon  his  talents  or  tact — 
conditions  there  were  so  desperate  as  to  be  the 
despair  of  St.  Paul  himself. 

3 

Timothy's  Service  as  a  Settled  Pastor 

About  all  we  can  say  with  positive  assurance 
under  this  head,  is  that  he  was  certainly  once  for 
a  longer  or  shorter  time  pastor  of  the  church  at 
Ephesus.  The  proof  of  this  is  found  in  Paul 's  words : 
*'As  I  besought  thee  to  abide  still  at  Ephesus, 
when  I  went  into  Macedonia,  that  thou  mightest 
charge  some  that  they  teach  no  other  doctrine." 
And,  in  fact,  Paul's  entire  first  letter  to  him  was 
for  his  guidance  in  that  pastorate.  But  the  date  of 
this  and  its  place  in  the  movements  of  Paul  himself 
is  entirely  uncertain.  Some  authorities  are  positive 
that  it  took  place  during  Paul's  journey  to  Antioch 
at  the  conclusion  of  his  second  missionary  journey. 
Others  are  equally  sure  that  it  is  to  be  placed  after 
his  release  from  his  first  imprisonment  at  Rome, 
when  he  was  again  doing  missionary  work  for  a 
short  time  in  Crete  and  Greece. 

Whatever  the  precise  time,  the  evidence  is  clear 
as  to  the  pastorate  itself.  It  is  not  impossible  that 
he  served  this  church  on  several  different  occasions. 
It  may  very  well  be  that  he  remained  here  and 
preached  while  Paul  visited  Antioch  between  his 
second  and  third  missionary  journeys,  and  that  he 
was  there  again  later  on.  It  is  known  that  he  was 
with  Paul  some  of  the  time  during  his  first  or  second 


TIMOTHY  99 

imprisonment  at  Rome,  and  that  he  had  returned  to 
the  East,  in  all  probability  to  Ephesus,  before  Paul's 
martyrdom,  for  it  is  from  the  East  that  he  is  so 
pathetically  summoned  to  hasten  back  to  console 
the  dying  hours  of  his  life-long  friend.  And,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  it  is  altogether  probable  that 
after  Paul's  death  and  his  own  imprisonment  and 
release,  he  returned  to  Ephesus  once  more  and  there 
completed  his  earthly  service. 

Be  these  conjectures  as  they  may,  the  fact  of 
Paul's  appointment  of  him  even  once  to  such  an 
important  pastorate  proves  his  faith  in  his  ability, 
and  was  carrying  out  Paul's  conscious  purpose  of  so 
training  the  friends  about  him  that  when  at  last 
he  must  lay  down  his  mantle  there  would  be  a 
score  ready  to  take  it  up,  and  his  master  passion 
still  burn  in  other  bosoms  to  the  end  of  time.  **And 
the  things  that  thou  hast  heard  of  me  among  many 
witnesses,  the  same  commit  thou  to  faithful  men, 
who  shall  be  able  to  teach  others  also.'' 

4. 

Timothy  ^s  Service  as  an  Associate  Author 

We  are  accustomed  to  speak  of  Paul  as  the  author 
of  thirteen  books  of  the  New  Testament.  This  is 
not  incorrect;  and  yet  it  does  not  tell  the  entire 
story  concerning  the  authorship  of  his  epistles.  We 
need  but  glance  at  the  introduction  and  salutations 
of  the  several  letters  to  discover  that  in  some  cases 
Paul  distinctly  associates  other  men  with  himself  as 
joint  authors;  at  least  of  the  messages  sent.     Un- 


100  SAINT  PAUL'S  FEIENDSHIPS 

doubtedly  the  language  is  practically  all  Pauline. 
In  all  probability  the  messages  and  counsel  are 
mainly  his  own,  yet  the  fact  remains  that  in  six  out 
oi'  the  thirteen  which  bear  his  name,  he  specifically 
mentions  Timothy  as  one  who  with  himself  is  send- 
ing the  greetings  and  communication  to  the 
churches.  Three  of  these  six  letters  were  written 
during  their  missionary  travels  together, — 1st  and 
2nd  Thessalonians,  and  2nd  Corinthians;  the  other 
three  were  written  from  Rome  while  Timothy  was 
there  with  Paul, — Philippians,  Colossians,  and  Phile- 
mon. 


Timothy 's  Service  as  a  Comfort  and  Inspiration  to 
St.  Paul 

I  think  this  deserves  a  separate  mention.  I  think 
it  has  a  rightful  place  in  any  catalog  of  Timothy's 
services  to  Christianity.  Paul  was  no  ordinary  man. 
His  services  to  Christianity  were  unique.  Whatever 
contributed  to  making  them  what  they  were,  was 
itself  a  service  to  Christianity.  Timothy's  love  for 
Paul  was  a  comfort  beyond  words  to  the  lonely  man 
who,  bereft  of  all  family  ties,  tried  to  fill  the  aching 
emptiness  in  his  heart  by  claiming  his  younger 
friends  as  ''sons," — and  preeminent  among  these 
was  his  ''beloved"  Timothy. 

This  was  much,  but  it  was  not  all.  Timothy's 
love  and  companionship  were  more  than  a  comfort 
to  Paul  the  individual.  They  were  an  inspiration 
to  Paul  the  missionary.    Discouraged  and  defeated 


TIMOTHY  101 

at  Athens,  Paul  reached  Corinth  broken  in  body  and 
spirit.  His  life  work  was  too  great,  the  burden  of 
his  mission  too  crushing  to  be  borne,  even  his  faith 
and  courage  staggered  in  the  presence  of  his  diffi- 
culties and  discouragements.  He  was  alone  in  that 
great  and  wicked  city.  Alone — and  he  could  not 
rise  to  the  demands  of  the  hour.  All  at  once  he 
became  his  old  self  and  the  Gospel  message  once 
more  rang  out  from  his  lips  with  all  its  former 
power  and  intensity.  What  had  happened?  Only 
this — two  friends  had  joined  him  and  were  com- 
forting his  heart  and  staying  up  his  hands.  His  old 
zeal  flamed  forth  anew  and  his  voice  again  hurled 
forth  its  challenging  and  victorious  battle  cry.  In 
human  fellowship  and  friendship  this  mighty  man, 
shorn  of  his  strength  when  left  alone,  renewed  his 
courage,  his  optimism,  and  his  power.  The  twain 
who  thus  through  the  voice  of  Paul  smote  iniquity 
in  the  high  places  of  pagan  Corinth  were  Silas  just 
arrived  from  Berea,  and  Timothy  with  joyful  tidings 
from  Thessalonica. 

These  then  were  the  fivefold  services  rendered  by 
Timothy  to  the  early  church  and  all  the  Christian 
centuries.  Perhaps  a  sixth  should  be  added,  one 
already  several  times  mentioned,  that  of  handing 
on  to  others  the  unspeakable  treasures  he  had 
received  from  the  lips  and  harvested  from  the  com- 
panionship of  the  great  Apostle. 


102  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

IV 

Timothy y  the  Man — His  Ability  and  Character 

If  we  had  simply  the  above  references  and  catalog 
of  Timothy's  services,  we  should  be  compelled  to 
regard  him  as  one  of  the  ablest  men  of  the  New 
Testament — perhaps  second  only  to  Paul  himself. 
On  the  other  hand  if  we  had  no  reference  to  him 
save  in  the  two  letters  Paul  wrote  him,  we  should 
be  compelled  to  draw  almost  precisely  the  opposite 
conclusion  both  as  to  his  ability  and  character.  If 
these  letters  were  our  only  source  of  information, 
we  should  of  course  learn  something  of  the  match- 
lessness  of  Paul's  affection  for  his  '' beloved  son;'^ 
but  our  unavoidable  conclusion  would  be  that  if 
these  letters  reflected  anything  like  a  just  estimate 
of  the  man  to  whom  they  were  written,  he  must 
have  been,  however  amiable  his  purposes  and  im- 
pulses, young,  weak,  fickle,  and  subjected  to  all 
kinds  of  temptations — mental,  spiritual,  and  physi- 
cal. 

Have  we  any  right  to  assume  that  these  letters 
in  their  warnings,  entreaties,  and  counsels,  give  any- 
thing like  a  true  portrayal  of  the  real  Timothy? 
Certainly  no  one  was  better  acquainted  with  him 
than  their  author.  For  years  they  had  travelled  and 
labored  together.  Now  it  would  be  exceedingly 
strange  if  in  letters  meant  originally  for  the  eye  of 
Timothy  only,  every  word  and  thought  in  them  that 
flowed  from  the  pen  of  St.  Paul  were  a  total  misfit 
for  the  recipient.     If  one  now  by  honorable  means 


TIMOTHY  103 

should  chance  to  get  possession  of  a  private  letter 
written  by  an  older  man  to  a  younger  friend,  and 
if  this  letter  was  full  of  warnings  and  beseechings, 
it  would  be  deemed  that  its  contents  were  a  revela- 
tion of  the  character  of  the  younger  man;  or,  at 
any  rate,  a  revelation  of  the  older  man's  conception 
of  him.  Does  not  this  same  rule  hold  with  reference 
to   Paul's   letters   to   Timothy? 

I  have  said  we  should  assume  from  these  letters 
that  Timothy  was  a  very  young  man  at  the  time 
they  were  written.  But  the  facts  are  otherwise.  It 
is  probable  that  when  he  first  joined  Paul  he  was  at 
least  twenty  years  of  age.  At  the  time  Paul  wrote 
the  first  letter  to  him  many  years  had  elapsed,  some 
estimate  as  high  as  fifteen.  These  years  had  been 
filled  with  arduous  labor  and  disciplining  expe- 
riences. It  is  difficult  to  reconcile  the  entire  tone 
of  these  letters  with  the  known  facts  in  the  case. 
Assuming  their  genuineness,  as  is  here  done,  there 
are  six  possible  inferences  that  may  be  drawn  from 
a  consideration  of  their  contents,  i.  e.,  as  to  why 
Paul  wrote  just  as  he  did. 

1st.  That  the  letters  in  no  way  reflect  the  writer's 
conception  of  either  the  character  or  the  character- 
istics of  his  friend. 

2nd.  That  Paul  totally  misconceived  the  charac- 
ter of  Timothy  from  beginning  to  end. 

3rd.  That  Paul's  brooding  parental  solicitude 
imagined  dangers  and  temptations  which  had  no 
objective  reality. 


104  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

4th.  That  he  had  been  separated  from  Timothy 
for  some  time  before  the  writing  of  the  first  letter 
and  that  he  wrote  as  he  remembered  him  as  a  youth, 
and  the  letter  correctly  reflects  what  he  actually 
was  when  first  associated  with  St.  Paul. 

5th.  That  Paul  had  not  necessarily  been  long 
separated  from  him,  but  like  many  a  parent  it  was 
impossible  ever  to  think  of  his  *'son"  Timothy  as 
having  reached  man's  estate.     Or, 

6th.  We  may  conclude  that  Timothy  was  still  at 
the  time  Paul  wrote  exactly  what  the  contents  of 
the  letters  seem  to  imply. 

Of  these  six  possible  inferences,  I  am  inclined  to 
bar  out  the  first  two  entirely,  and  then  accept  a 
blending  of  the  other  four, — that  Paul  was  over 
solicitous,  that  he  could  hardly  yet  regard  Timothy 
as  a  grown  man,  that  the  letters  reflect  the  counsel 
Timothy  did  need  in  his  youth,  and  that  some  of  his 
early  traits  and  weaknesses  still  threatened  to  ham- 
per his  largest  usefulness  and  success.  The  first 
letter  is  from  the  hand  of  an  old  friend,  nay,  more, 
a  ''father,"  who  is  extremely  solicitous  that  his 
**own  son  after  the  faith"  shall  in  the  difficult  pas- 
torate at  Ephesus,  acquit  himself  splendidly  for 
Christ  and  before  the  world. 

Some  of  Timothy's  weaknesses  and  dangers  as 
reflected  in  Paul's  letters  may  be  briefly  alluded  to. 

He  seems  to  have  been  by  nature  somewhat  lacking 
in  robust  moral  and  physical  courage,  so  Paul  ex- 
horted him  to ''fight  the  good  fight  of  faith  ...  Be 
not  thou  ashamed  of  the  testimony  of  our  Lord,  nor 


TIMOTHY  105 

of  me  his  prisoner:  but  be  thou  partaker  of  the 
afflictions  of  the  gospel  according  to  the  power  of 
God.  .  .  .  Thou  therefore  endure  hardness,  as  a 
good  soldier  of  Jesus  Christ.  .  .  .  Let  no  man 
despise  thy  youth.  .  .  .  Them  that  sin  rebuke 
before  all,  that  others  also  may  hear.  I  charge  thee 
before  God,  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the 
elect  angels,  that  thou  observe  these  things  without 
preferring  one  above  another,  doing  nothing  by  par- 
tiality." 

Nor  does  Timothy  appear  to  have  been  altogether 
exempt  from  the  common  temptations  that  assail 
youth.  So  Paul  deemed  it  necessary  to  warn  him 
against  covetousness.  "For  the  love  of  money  is 
the  root  of  all  evil :  which  while  some  coveted  after, 
they  have  erred  from  the  faith,  and  pierced  them- 
selves through  with  many  sorrows.  But  thou,  O 
man  of  God,  flee  these  things;  and  follow  after 
righteousness,  godliness,  faith,  love,  patience,  meek- 
ness. ' '  Paul  also  cautions  him  against  impurity  and 
rashness.  '^Lay  hands  suddenly  on  no  man,  neither 
be  partaker  of  other  men's  sins:  keep  thyself  pure. 
.  .  .  Flee  also  youthful  lusts,  but  follow  .  .  . 
with  them  that  call  on  the  Lord  out  of  a  pure  heart." 

Temperamentally  Timothy  seems  to  have  been  im- 
pulsive, so  Paul  counselled  him  on  this  score  as  fol- 
lows: ''Rebuke  not  an  elder,  but  entreat  him  as  a 
father  .  .  .  Against  an  elder  receive  not  an 
accusation,  but  before  two  or  three  witnesses."  He 
was  also  inclined  to  be  speculative,  argumentative^ 
and  disputatious — perhaps  due  to  his  Greek  heritage 


106  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

through  his  father.  At  any  rate  this  tendency- 
needed  curbing  and.  Paul  urges  against  it  again  and 
again.  ''Neither  give  heed  to  fables  and  endless 
genealogies,  which  minister  questions,  rather  than 
godly  edifying  which  is  in  faith  ...  0  Tim- 
othy, keep  that  which  is  committed  to  thy  trust, 
avoiding  profane  and  vain  babblings,  and  opposi- 
tion of  science,  falselj^  so  called  .  .  .  Hold  fast 
the  form  of  sound  words  .  .  .  But  foolish  and 
unlearned  questions  avoid,  knowing  that  they  do 
gender  strifes."  Timothy  was  also  in  danger  of 
lacking  that  personal  and  professional  energy  and 
steadfastness  which  Paul  deemed  essential  to  a  ser- 
vant of  Jesus  Christ,  so  he  wrote — ''Neglect  not  the 
gift  that  is  in  thee,  which  was  given  thee  by 
prophecy,  with  the  laying  on  of  the  hands  of  the 
presbytery.  Meditate  upon  these  things;  give  thy- 
self wholly  to  them ;  that  thy  profiting  may  appear 
to  all.  Take  heed  unto  thyself,  and  unto  the  doc- 
trine ;  continue  in  them :  for  in  doing  this  thou  shalt 
both  save  thyself,  and  them  that  hear  thee.  .  .  . 
Wherefore  I  put  thee  in  remembrance,  that  thou 
stir  up  the  gift  of  God,  which  is  in  thee  by  the  put- 
ting on  of  my  hands.  .  .  .  Study  to  show  thy- 
self approved  unto  God,  a  workman  that  needeth 
not  to  be  ashamed,  rightly  dividing  the  word  of 
truth.  .  .  .  But  continue  thou  in  the  things 
which  thou  hast  learned  and  hast  been  assured  of, 
knowing  of  whom  thou  hast  learned  them.     .     .     . 


TIMOTHY  107 

But  watch  thou  in  all  things,  endure  afflictions,  do 
the  work  of  an  evangelist,  make  full  proof  of  thy 
ministry. ' ' 

It  would  be  easy  to  declare  all  this  a  true  revela- 
tion of  the  real  Timothy,  while  the  record  of  Paul's 
testimony  of  him  in  his  letters  to  various  churches, 
and  the  important  commissions  entrusted  to  him, 
were  the  words  and  acts  of  an  over  fond  father 
praising  and  trusting  a  child  far  beyond  his  merits 
and  abilities.  But  such  an  assumption  is  unneces- 
sary and  would  be  unjust.  It  is  better  to  regard 
Paul's  letters  as  correctly  portraying  the  kind  of 
man  Timothy  was  by  nature  and  inheritance  before 
his  conversion  and  enlistment  by  Paul  in  missionary 
service;  and  that  these  old  natural  and  hereditary 
traits  still  occasionally  showed  themselves,  demand- 
ing constant  watchfulness  and  struggle  on  the  part 
of  Timothy  to  prevent  their  staining  his  life  and 
marring  his  usefulness. 

On  the  other  hand  we  should  regard  Paul's  praise 
and  his  confidence  in  Timothy  as  picturing  the  man 
Paul  wanted  him  to  be,  believed  he  would  become, 
helped  him  to  be,  and,  in  the  end,  the  kind  of  man 
he  actually  became.  At  one  time  Paul  wrote  exhort- 
ing him  to  be  courageous.  He  believed  in  that  to 
which  he  appealed.  Timothy  became  that  which  his 
friend  believed  of  him.  So  at  the  last  when  Paul's 
foes  were  increasing  and  his  friends  decreasing  and 
death  was  near  and  escape  hopeless,  it  was  to  Tim- 
othy, the  one  time  timid-hearted,  that  he  wrote  to 
hasten  to  his  side  to  share  the  last  terrors  when  the 


108  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

weak  and  cowardly  were  deserting  and  in  hiding; 
and  Paul  wrote  in  full  assurance  that  his  summons- 
would  be  obeyed,  that  Timothy  was  a  man  who  then 
feared  the  face  of  no  foe. 


What  Paul  and  Timothy  Each  Owed  to  the  Other 

No  pen  can  portray  what  these  two  friends  were- 
to  each  other.  Their  affection  was  so  sacred  and 
their  friendship  so  inspiring  that  it  seems  useless, 
if  not  a  profanation,  to  try  to  subject  it  to  any 
analj^sis  whatsoever.  And  yet  as  our  theme  is  the 
greatness  and  significance  of  Paul's  friendships  both 
to  himself,  his  friends,  and  the  world,  we  are  com- 
pelled to  indicate  some  of  the  values  of  this  par- 
ticular friendship  or  we  prove  false  to  our  under- 
taking. 

Without  intending  any  disparagement  of  Timothy,, 
it  must  be  confessed  that  we  have  to  search  his 
career  very  minutely  to  find  a  single  strong  mascu- 
line note  in  his  nature.  While  he  was  well  reported 
of  when  we  first  meet  him,  it  is  improbable  that  his- 
name  would  now  be  preserved  had  not  Paul's  surg- 
ing love  laid  hold  upon  him  and  breathed  into  his 
heart  some  small  part  at  least  of  the  flaming  fires 
of  his  own  inspiration,  and  nerved  and  supported 
him  with  his  own  heart  of  oak. 

Paul  drafted  him  into  the  soldiership  of  Jesus- 
Christ  and  hurled  him  into  those  campaigns  that 
were  to  change  history.  From  the  moment  they 
met  Timothy  was  his,  soul  and  body.     He  committed 


TIMOTHY  109 

his  all  unto  the  older  man,  rendered  him  absolute 
obedience  and  unswerving  loyalty.  His  life  and 
services  were  at  Paul's  command.  He  was  ready  to 
do  and  dare  anything  to  achieve  that  which  Paul 
Asked  and  hoped  of  him.  There  is  something  about 
his  loyalty  and  unquestioning  subjection  that 
reminds  one  of  the  blind  loyalty  of  a  dumb  brute  to 
its  master.  With  Paul  he  could  achieve  great 
things.  But  during  his  earlier  years  he  was,  when 
left  alone,  as  some  Samson  shorn  of  his  locks. 

Where  a  situation  required  merely  tact  and  gen- 
tleness Timothy  was  a  splendid  success  even  when 
left  by  himself.  But  let  difficulties  mount  up  and 
men's  passions  and  antagonisms  be  thoroughly 
aroused  and  inflamed,  then  he  was  no  match  for  the 
occasion.  Perhaps  in  later  years  he  was  able  to  cope 
with  such  situations,  but  certainly  not  at  first. 

As  a  Christian  man  doubtless  he  would  always 
have  been  faithful  and  exemplary  without  the 
friendship  of  St.  Paul;  but  he  would  always,  in  my 
judgment,  have  moved  in  a  small  circle.  What  he 
became  as  a  missionary,  messenger,  and  soldier  of 
the  Cross,  he  owed  to  the  transforming  friendship, 
faith,  and  tuition  of  the  mightiest  of  the  Apostles 
and  the  mightiest  of  friends. 

When  we  turn  the  question  about  and  ask  what 
was  the  value  of  Timothy's  friendship  to  Paul,  we 
have  quite  another  answer  to  discover.  Primarily, 
he  seems  to  me  to  have  provided  an  exhaustless 
receptacle  for  the  inexhaustible  outpourings  of  the 


110  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

love  and  tenderness  of  one  of  the  mightiest  hearts 
which  has  ever  enriched  a  world.  Timothy  himself 
alone  afforded  St.  Paul  an  almost  complete  circle 
of  domestic  ties  and  relationships.  In  this  respect 
he  supplied  what  I  may  term  a  ''feminine  element" 
otherwise  so  sadly  lacking  in  the  friendships  and 
life  of  Paul.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  Paul's 
brooding  solicitude  for  Timothy  furnished  in  itself 
one  of  the  deepest  sources  of  his  earthly  happiness. 
If  it  were  conceivable  that  Timothy  had  ever  sinned 
basely  or  treacherously,  it  is  easy  to  picture  Paul 
as  weeping  in  uncontrollable  anguish  as  did  David 
over  the  sins  and  death  of  Absalom. 

The  above  is  what  T  always  think  of  first  when  I 
ask  myself  what  value  Timothy's  friendship  was  to 
St.  Paul.  But  I  do  not  overlook  nor  underestimate 
the  years  of  steadfast  co-operation  which  he  ren- 
dered in  all  of  Paul's  labors  and  enterprises;  and 
there  can  be  little  doubt  that  when  Paul  at  last 
yielded  the  post  of  Commander-in-Chief  of  all  the 
armies  in  Christendom,  Timothy  was  one  of  the 
ablest  and  most  efficiently  trained  of  all  the  Corps 
Commanders  upon  whom  the  new  responsibilities 
were  henceforth  to  rest. 

We  have  already  seen  how  anxious  Paul  was  to 
have  Mark  with  him  as  he  stood  at  the  gates  of 
death;  but  to  Timothy  alone  of  all  his  score  of 
friends  did  he  directly  write,  imploring  his  presence 
in  that  hour  when  Nero  was  sharpening  his  axe  and 
the  craven-hearted  were  fleeing  in  terror.    This  alone 


TIMOTHY  111 

is  sufficient  testimony  to  what  each  was  to  the  other 
and  of  the  transformation  wrought  in  the  once  timid 
young  Timothy  by  the  power  of  friendship  with 
such  a  man  as  Paul. 


CHAPTER  VI 
Luke — The  Biographer  of  Paul 


Our  knowledge  of  Luke  is  derived  from  the  fol- 
lowing passages : — Luke  1  :l-4,  Acts  1  :l-4,  16 :10-17, 
20:5-15,21:1-18,  27:1,  28:16,  Col.  4:14,  2  Tim. 
4 :11,  Phm.  1 :24.  And  as  author  and  historian, — 
the  Gospel  of  Luke  and  The  Acts. 


WE  characterize  Luke  as  "The  Biog- 
rapher of  Paul.''  This  title  is  both 
inadequate  and  inexact  as  descrip- 
tive of  Luke  himself.  He  was 
both  something  more  and  something  less,  than  the 
biographer  of  Paul.  He  was  something  more,  for 
he  was  the  biographer  of  a  greater  than  Paul,  even 
Paul's  Master,  Jesus  Christ.  And  he  was  also  the 
first  historian  of  the  Christian  church.  He  was 
likewise  something  less  than  the  biographer  of  St. 
Paul,  for  he  never  undertook  to  write  the  life  of 
that  great  Apostle.  Though  he  tells  us  much 
about  Paul  in  the  Acts,  he  neither  narrates  the 
story  of  his  early  life  nor  does  he  describe  the 
tragic  end.  And  though  the  doings  of  Paul  almost 
exclusively  occupy  the  last  half  of  the  book  of  Acts, 
yet  even  then  the  story  of  Paul  the  man,  and  also 

112 


LUKE  113 

the  story  of  Paul  the  rrftssionary  and  organizer,  is 
strictly  subordinate  to  that  larger  theme,  the  un- 
folding of  which  Luke  has  proposed  to  himself. 

The  justification  of  our  title  for  this  chapter  then, 
is  this, — to  express  the  most  striking  phase  of  Luke's 
relationship  to  his  friend  Paul.  Our  purpose  is  not 
to  give  an  analysis  of  Luke's  writings,  nor  a  com- 
plete and  critical  study  of  his  life.  While  the  bio- 
graphical data  concerning  Paul  found  in  Acts  is  in- 
cidental, and  we  might  almost  say  accidental,  to 
Luke's  history  of  the  Apostolic  Church  and  its  mis- 
sionary expansion  into  a  world  power,  yet  in  these 
data  we  find  the  only  account  in  the  New  Testament 
which  resembles  anj^thing  like  a  connected  story  of 
Paul's  life  after  his  conversion,  including  a  brief 
summary  of  the  main  features  of  his  three  mission- 
ary journeys,  his  imprisonments  and  numerous  legal 
examinations  at  Jerusalem  and  Caesarea,  and  his 
final  voyage  to  Rome  as  a  prisoner  who  had  appealed 
unto  Caesar.  Fragmentary  as  all  this  is,  yet  it  is 
the  only  story  we  have  of  the  Apostle's  life,  and 
hence  our  title  expresses  a  relationship  of  Luke  to 
St.  Paul  not  sustained  by  any  other  of  the  latter 's 
numerous  friends. 

I 

Who  Luke  Was 

The  first  thing  that  impresses  us  when  we  raise 
this  question,  is  the  scantiness  of  our  exact  knowl- 
edge concerning  a  man  who  wrote  one  fourth  of  our 
New  Testament.    He  never  once  names  himself  in  all 


114  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

his  writings.  A  few  times  he  modestly  employs  the 
pronoun  "we."  He  never  tells  us  anything  about  his 
individual  services,  though  it  is  easy  to  gather  that 
these  must  have  been  important.  He  hides  his  per- 
sonality as  completely  as  possible  behind  the  great 
events,  themes,  and  lives,  which  he  so  graphically 
portrays.  Shakespere  himself  is  scarcely  more  com- 
pletely hidden  from  view  in  his  works  than  Luke  in 
his. 

In  the  entire  New  Testament  Luke  is  referred  to 
by  name  only  three  times,  all  the  references  being 
found  in  letters  of  his  friend  Paul.  From  these  three 
references,  and  from  statements  of  Luke  himself  in 
Acts,  we  gain  some  positive,  though  scanty,  informa- 
tion concerning  the  man  and  his  movements.  From 
Col.  4 :  14  we  learn  that  he  was  a  physician,  and  that 
he  was  probably  known  unto  the  Colossian  church 
as  he  sends  them  his  greetings;  and  by  comparing 
this  verse,  14,  with  verses  10  and  11  of  the  same 
chapter,  it  is  evident  he  was  not  a  Jew,  for  Paul  first 
enumerates  all  those  with  him  who  were  of  the 
** circumcision,'*  and  immediately  afterwards  states 
Luke  was  also  with  him,  which  excludes  the  latter 
from  those  who  were  Jews. 

From  his  first  appearance  in  Acts  where  he  is 
found  suddenly  and  without  explanation  in  the  com- 
pany of  Paul,  Silas,  and  Timothy  at  Troas,  we  learn 
that  he  is  already  a  Christian  and  a  preacher,  for  he 
writes:  "After  he  (Paul)  had  seen  the  vision,  im- 
mediately we  endeavored  to  go  into  Macedonia,  as- 
suredly gathering  that  the  Lord  had  called  us  for  to 


LUKE  115 

preach  the  gospel  unto  them."  Note  the  words 
*' called  us  for  to  preach,"  which  necessarily  includes 
the  writer.  Whether  he  had  previously  labored 
with  Paul,  whether  they  had  ever  met  before, 
whether  this  meeting  was  prearranged  or  purely  ac- 
cidental,— all  are  questions  which  it  is  impossible  to 
answer. 

Farther  information  concerning  the  life  and  labors 
of  Luke  will  be  dealt  with  in  other  sections  of  this 
sketch.  We  are  now  merely  inquiring  who  the  man 
was,  and  what  is  known  of  his  life  previous  to  his 
joining  his  fortunes  with  those  of  St.  Paul.  The  pos- 
itive facts  have  all  been  covered  above;  we  may, 
however,  speak  of  some  guesses  and  assumptions,  a 
part  of  which  are  quite  likely  true,  others  question- 
able, and  still  others  manifestly  impossible. 

By  some  it  is  thought  that  he  was  already  well  ac- 
quainted with  Paul  at  the  time  he  joined  him  at 
Troas;  in  fact,  that  he  was  a  convert  of  Paul's,  pos- 
sibly the  fruit  of  his  labors  at  Antioeh.  There  is  no 
evidence  on  this  point  either  way. 

The  conjecture  that  he  was  a  Greek  has  much  in 
its  favor  and  nothing  to  discredit  it.  He  had  a 
Greek  name;  in  his  writings  he  used  the  finest  Greek 
of  any  New  Testament  author ;  and,  lastly,  nearly  all 
eminent  physicians  of  the  day  were  Asiatic  Greeks. 
It  is  also  believed  that  he  was  a  native  of  Antioeh, 
or,  at  any  rate,  a  long  time  resident  there.  So  an- 
cient authorities  affirm,  and  this  seems  to  be  borne 
out  by  his  detailed  knowledge  of  men  and  events  in 
that  city. 


116  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

The  tradition  that  he  was  one  of  the  Seventy  sent 
out  by  our  Lord  during  his  earthly  ministry,  and 
also  that  he  was  one  of  the  two  to  whom  Christ  ap- 
peared on  the  way  to  Emmaus,  are  both  alike  clearly 
disproved  by  his  own  statement  in  the  preface  to  his 
Gospel  where  he  declares  that  he  had  gathered  the 
material  for  his  life  of  Christ  from  numerous  frag- 
mentary written  accounts  and  from,  the  oral  testi- 
mony of  eyewitnesses.  Thus  he  plainly  excludes 
himself  from  the  circle  of  those  who  personally 
knew  Christ  when  on  earth. 

II 

Luke^s  Association  with  St.  Paul 

With  the  possible  exception  of  Timothy  it  is  prac- 
tically certain  that  no  other  friend  of  Paul's  was  so 
continuously  and  for  so  many  years  directly  asso- 
ciated with  him  as  was  Luke. 

We  have  already  seen  that  Paul,  Silas,  and 
Timothy  were  joined  at  Troas  by  Luke.  Whence  he 
came,  and  why,  and  how  he  happened  to  fall  in  with 
the  three  missionaries,  is  entirely  unknown;  but  it 
seems  safe  to  say  that  it  was  no  chance  meeting. 
Or,  if  it  was  on  the  part  of  men,  it  yet  was  certainly 
the  working  out  of  one  of  Providence's  vastest  de- 
signs. It  was  here  that  the  three  baffled  missionaries 
were  tarrying  when  Paul  in  the  night  time  saw  his 
vision  of  a  Macedonian  man  and  heard  his  distressed 
cry  voicing  the  moral  hunger  of  all  Europe.  The 
Greek  wording  of  Luke's  account  of  this  vision  im- 
plies that  the  man  of  Macedonia  was  not  an  imper- 


LUKE  117 

sonal  representative  of  that  entire  nation,  but  a 
certain  definite  individual.  From  this  fact  it  has 
been  plausibly  conjectured  that  the  **man  of  Mace- 
donia" was  none  other  than  Luke  himself. 

If  that  were  so,  then  the  course  of  events  was 
probably  somewhat  as  follows:  Luke,  who  was  al- 
ready a  Christian  preacher,  had  recently  been  in 
Macedonia,  presumably  at  Philippi,  where  he  may 
have  been  living  for  some  time  practicing  his  pro- 
fession as  a  physician.  He  is  intimately  acquainted 
with  the  spiritual  destitution  of  Macedonia  and  pro- 
foundly stirred  by  it.  He  feels  incompetent  to  un- 
dertake the  evangelization  of  so  large  a  province  by 
himself.  He  starts  on  a  journey  through  Asia  Minor 
to  find  Paul,  or  else  to  go  back  to  Antioch,  his 
former  home,  and  secure  helpers  from  that  powerful 
church.  Arrived  at  Troas  he  learns  that  Paul  and 
his  friends  have  already  reached  the  city,  and 
hastens  to  see  them. 

He  inquires  about  their  labors  and  successes,  and 
they  have  but  a  sorry  tale  to  tell  him  of  closed 
doors  on  every  hand,  how  the  Spirit  had  forbidden 
their  preaching  in  Asia  and  Bithynia,  and  how  they 
had  had  to  pass  through  Mysia  without  opportunity 
to  preach  the  Gospel.  Now  they  are  at  Troas,  the 
western  extremity  of  Asia,  and  no  door  is  open ;  the 
Spirit  has  not  yet  pointed  out  where  they  are  to 
labor,  they  know  not  whither  to  turn.  While  Paul 
is  telling  his  story  of  baffled  hopes  and  purposes, 
Luke's  heart  is  burning  within  him. 


118  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

As  soon  as  Paiil  is  silent,  Luke  speaks  pleading 
eloquently  for  Macedonia  and  Greece.  Paul  catches 
at  the  suggestion.  Perhaps  this  is  the  call  of  the 
Spirit,  perhaps  this  is  the  explanation  why  all  other 
doors  have  been  closed.  Long  the  four  men  discuss 
the  opportunities  of  Macedonia  and  Europe,  and 
the  closed  doors  of  Asia.  Paul  desires  only  the 
Spirit's  assurances.  He  is  ready  for  new  enterprises 
and  hazards.  Late  that  night  the  four  kneel  in 
prayer,  Luke  pleading  for  Macedonia,  Paul  for  the 
Spirit's  guidance.  In  the  still  hours  of  the  night 
that  followed  Paul  dreams  his  dream,  sees  his  vision, 
hears  the  Divine  call  through  a  human  voice.  The 
form  of  the  "man  of  Macedonia"  which  he  sees  is 
the  form  of  Luke  "the  beloved  physician,"  and  the 
Spirit  bids  him  go,  nothing  doubting. 

Now  all  this  is  conjectural,  but  at  the  same  time 
it  is  exceedingly  probable.  If  true,  it  lifts  Luke  to 
an  even  higher  plane  than  he  has  ever  occupied 
before  in  Christian  history,  exalted  as  his  position 
has  always  been.  This  would  put  him  on  the  highest 
summit  of  the  Divine  world-plans  at  one  of  the  most 
strategic  moments  of  history.  It  would  make  his 
part  in  the  conquest  of  Europe  for  Christianity 
scarcely  less  momentous  than  that  of  Paul  himself. 
The  fact  that  Luke  does  not  identify  himself  with 
the  man  Paul  saw  in  his  vision,  has  absolutely  no 
weight  against  the  assumption  that  he  was.  With 
his  habitual  modesty  he  would  never  have  spoken 
of  this  had  it  been  so.  He  always  kept  self  in  the 
background  as  did  John  in  his  Gospel. 


LUKE  119 

Be  the  above  conjectures  as  they  may,  the  day 
after  Paul's  vision  all  doubt  as  to  the  Spirit's  call 
is  swept  away  and  the  four  evangelists  joyfully  turn 
their  backs  on  the  closed  doors  of  Asia  and  their 
glowing  faces  toward  the  open  and  beckoning  doors 
of  Europe.  Arriving  thither  they  hasten  at  once 
to  Philippi,  probably  guided  to  this  place  by  Luke 
himself.  Here  the  foundations  of  a  powerful  church 
are  laid  by  the  four  evangelists;  but  Paul  and  Silas 
are  so  aggressive  as  to  be  almost  immediately  thrown 
into  prison,  and  on  their  liberation  are  driven  from 
the  city,  or  deem  it  wisest  to  withdraw. 

Here  Luke  himself  suddenly  disappears  from  the 
narrative  in  Acts,  i.  e.,  the  personal  pronoun  "we*' 
is  dropped  and  the  narrative  resumed  in  the  third 
person.  He  does  not  again  use  the  word  "we"  in 
connection  with  the  labors  and  travels  of  Paul  until 
a  period  of  about  seven  years  had  elapsed  when  the 
latter,  on  his  third  missionary  journey,  was  again 
rejoined  by  himself  here  in  Philippi  where  he  had 
been  left  at  the  time  of  Paul's  first  invasion  of 
Europe.  Where  Luke  had  been  all  these  years,  and 
what  he  had  been  doing,  is  entirely  unknown;  for 
again  his  modesty  prevented  his  telling  us  anything 
about  his  own  movements,  save  where  he  could  hide 
them  behind  the  personality  and  deeds  of  his  hero- 
friend  St.  Paul.  It  is  quite  generally  believed  that 
he  had  spent  these  years  laboring  by  himself  in 
Philippi.  There  is  only  one  serious  doubt  to  be 
cast  upon  this,  and  that  is  that  in  Paul's  letter  to  the 
Philippians  in  after  years  he  makes  no  reference 


120  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

to  such  a  period  of  service  on  the  part  of  Luke. 
This  is  not  conclusive  by  any  means;  for  even  if 
Luke  had  been  there  so  long,  there  was  no  special 
reason  for  Paul's  referring  to  a  work  which  would 
have  been  so  much  better  known  and  understood 
by  the  Philippians  than  by  himself.  It  may  also  be 
remarked  in  passing  that  neither  did  Paul  in  his 
letter  make  any  allusion  to  Silas  who  we  positively 
know  was  joint  founder  of  the  church  with  himself, 
Luke,  and  Timothy.  The  fact  is,  the  nature  of 
the  contents  of  the  letter  did  not  call  for  any 
references  to  either  Luke  or  Silas. 

But  whether  at  Philippi  or  elsewhere  it  matters 
little,  of  this  one  thing  w^e  may  be  sure  and  that  is 
that  to  such  a  man  as  Luke  these  years  were  not 
barren  or  unfruitful. 

Rejoining  Paul  at  Philippi  then,  on  the  latter 's 
return  trip  through  Greece  and  Macedonia  on  his 
third  missionary  journey,  Luke  became  his  insepa- 
rable companion  for  all  the  sad  remaining  years 
of  the  Apostle's  life.  With  Paul  he  made  that  long, 
solemn,  and,  in  many  ways,  mournful  final  journey 
to  Jerusalem,  endeavoring  at  times  with  others  to 
dissuade  the  Apostle  from  hazarding  his  life  among 
his  foes  in  that  tragic  city. 

He  was  a  witness  of  Paul's  arrest  in  Jerusalem 
and  his  companion,  or  in  closest  touch  with  him, 
during  all  his  weary  years  of  imprisonment  at 
Caesarea.  This  is  evidenced  by  his  detailed  knowl- 
edge of  every  move  in  Paul's  many  legal  examina- 
tions, his  deep  penetration  of  the  hidden  motives 


LUKE  121 

coutrolling  the  actions  of  the  various  officials  before 
whom  Paul  was  accused  and  tried.  That  he  was 
with  Paul  here  is  also  proved  by  his  verbal  reports 
of  Paul's  many  speeches  in  his  own  defense,  and 
of  the  powerful  effect  these  had  on  his  judges  and 
their  comments  thereon. 

When  at  last  it  was  determined  to  send  Paul  a 
prisoner  to  Rome  in  accordance  with  his  appeal 
unto  Caesar,  it  was  Luke  with  one  other  friend, 
Aristarchus,  who  voluntarily  shared  Paul's  long 
journey  and  mortal  peril.  With  Paul  he  suffered 
shipwreck,  with  Paul  the  Imperial  prisoner  he 
entered  the  Eternal  City,  awaiting  the  unknown. 
Here,  too,  he  voluntarily  remained  those  long  and 
terrible  years,  that  he  might  comfort  his  friend  in 
his  chains  and  assist  him  in  executing  his  dungeon- 
born  plans  for  the  evangelization  of  that  mighty  city, 
which  was  leaving  him  to  languish  in  a  felon's  cell. 
We  learn  this  fact  about  Luke's  religious  activities 
here  at  Rome  from  Paul^  letter  to  the  Colossians 
where  he  speaks  of  Mark,  Aristarchus,  Demas,  and 
Luke,  as  his  ''fellow  laborers." 

It  is  barely  possible  that  for  very  brief  lengths 
of  time  Luke  was  out  of  the  city,  as  he  did  not 
always  send  greetings  to  the  churches  to  which  Paul 
wrote  from  time  to  time.  But  whether  this  is  true 
or  not,  one  thing  we  do  know  and  that  is  that  he 
not  only  shared  Paul's  first  and  milder  imprison- 
ment but  was  by  his  side  during  his  second  and 
more  bitter  confinement.  In  Paul's  second  letter  to 
Timothy — the  last  he  ever  wrote — ^he  speaks  of  the 


122  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

terrible  rigor  of  his  situation  and  the  mortal  peril 
he  was  in.  He  tells  of  the  whereabouts  of  his 
faithful  lieutenants  on  distant  fields  of  conflict  and 
service,  and  of  the  cowardice  and  desertion  of  some 
in  Rome.  In  heart-broken  tones  of  loneliness,  and 
yet  with  infinite  gratitude,  he  writes  "only  Luke  is 
with  me." 

"What  a  simple  eulogy  of  this  quiet  but  fearless 
friend.  The  self-advertising  and  loud-voiced  are 
hiding  in  craven  terror,  Luke  "the  beloved  physi- 
cian" is  still  at  his  post,  ministering  to  a  suffering 
heart  as  once  he  ministered  to  suffering  bodies.  Let 
peril  come,  let  death  come,  let  Nero  sharpen  his  axe. 
let  all  others  flee, — here  is  another  of  that  noble, 
self-sacrificing  profession  who  is  ready  to  hazard  his 
life  at  the  call  of  duty  and  honor.  In  that  hour  to 
which  heavenly  hosts  bore  witness  and  back  to  which 
all  after  ages  have  gazed  in  wonder  and  awe,  the 
names  of  two  men  shine  forth  out  of  the  murky 
darkness  with  a  light  and  glory  which  neither  time 
nor  circumstance  can  ever  dim — Paul  awaiting  his 
physical  death  and  spiritual  crown,  and  Luke,  phy- 
sician and  soldier  of  the  Cross,  by  his  side  holding 
his  hand  and  steadying  his  courage  for  his  last 
journey,  the  journey  of  his  spirit  to  its  heavenly 
rest. 

In  that  scene  and  hour  Luke  won  new  honors  for 
the  medical  profession,  undying  glory  for  Christian 
courage,  and  unfading  laurels  for  human  friendship. 

0  Paul,  thou  wert  the  master-friend  as  well  as 
master-Christian.     Luke  was  with  thee  to  the  last, 


LUKE  123 

and  the  once  timid  Timothy  and  cowardly  Mark 
are  hastening  over  the  waves  to  share  thy  peril. 
*' Faithful  unto  death" — such  are  they  whose  souls 
thou  hast  set  on  fire  with  the  flame  of  thine  own 
mighty  spirit. 

Ill 

Luke's  Service  to  Christianity 

We  have  already  noted  three  phases  of  the  services 
of  Luke  the  missionary  and  preacher, — that  he  was 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Philippian  church,  that 
he  did  evangelistic  work  at  Rome,  that  for  years  he 
was  the  faithful  attendant  of  St.  Paul,  ministering 
to  his  comfort  and  encouraging  him  in  his  labors. 

Important  as  these  particular  forms  of  service 
were,  yet  the  monumental  achievement  of  Luke  was 
his  authorship  of  the  Acts  and  the  Gospel  which 
bears  his  name.  If  he  was  a  Gentile,  as  he  un- 
doubtedly was,  then  it  is  entirely  likely  that  he  was 
the  only  Gentile  author  of  any  book  of  our  inspired 
Scriptures.  It  is  remotely  possible  that  Job  was 
not  written  by  a  Jew,  but  it  is  more  likely  that 
it  was. 

Great  as  has  always  been  the  acknowledgment  of 
the  church's  debt  to  Luke  as  an  author,  it  is  doubt- 
ful if  his  share  in  the  writing  of  the  New  Testament 
has  ever  been  fully  appreciated.  We  are  accustomed 
to  regard  Paul  as  the  author  of  far  more  of  the 
New  Testament  than  any  other  man.  In  number 
of  books  this  is  of  course  true,  he  having  written 
thirteen  out  of  a  total  of  twenty-seven,  John  stand- 


124  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

ing  next  with  only  five  to  his  credit.  But  when  we 
consider  volume  of  matter,  apart  from  the  number 
of  books,  we  find  to  our  surprise  that  to  Luke  is 
due  the  preeminence. 

In  a  New  Testament  of  273  pages  such  as  now 
lies  open  before  me,  I  find  that  the  Gospel  of  Luke 
and  the  Acts  together  total  74'(/l>  pages,  or  six  pages 
more  than  one-fourth  of  the  entire  New  Testament; 
while  Paul's  thirteen  letters  total  just  70  pages,  or, 
in  other  words,  41/2  less  than  Luke's  two  books. 
Together  these  inseparable  friends  wrote  1441/^, 
leaving  128%  to  the  credit  of  all  other  writers  of 
New  Testament  Scripture. 

Now  let  us  consider  for  a  moment  the  value  and 
significance  of  Luke's  writings,  apart  from  all  ques- 
tions of  bulk.  In  doing  so  we  can  of  course  but  hint 
at  certain  points,  their  true  value  and  significance 
can  never  be  measured,  much  less  attempted  in  a 
brief  sketch  of  the  author  like  this. 

There  are  two  special  values  of  the  Gospel  of 
Luke  over  and  above  those  of  the  other  three,— 
numerous  facts  not  elsewhere  reported,  and  the 
spirit  of  the  universality  of  Christ's  message  as 
designed  for  all  men  and  races.  This  is  not  to  deny 
that  the  other  Gospels  may  record  facts  which  Luke 
omits,  or  that  they  do  not  have  merits  lacking  to 
his,  indeed,  such  is  the  case;  but  here  we  are  simply 
dealing  with  the  importance  of  his  own  contribution 
to  a  complete  understandmg  of  the  life,  mission, 
and  message  of  our  Lord. 


LUKE  125 

It  is  said  that  Luke  records  over  forty  events  and 
parables  not  elsewhere  referred  to.  *See  below. 
He  alone  tells  us  of  the  angels'  song,  and  of  the 
shepherds*  visit  to  the  manger  of  the  infant  Jesus; 
of  the  repentance  of  one  of  the  thieves  on  the  cross 
beside  our  Lord's;  and  of  the  walk  to  Emmaus 
after  the  resurrection.  He  alone  records  the  parables 
of  the  Good  Samaritan,  the  Prodigal  Son,  and  the 
Rich  Man  and  Lazarus.  He  alone  traces  Christ's 
descent  back  to  Adam,  speaks  of  Christ's  enrollment 
in  the  Roman  Empire,  tells  us  of  the  aged  Simeon, 
and  the  prophetess  Anna,  of  Christ's  reference  to 
Elijah's  mission  to  the  heathen  woman,  of  the  ten 
lepers  cured  and  of  only  the  one  Samaritan  return- 
ing to  render  his  thanks.  He  alone  gives  the  account 
of  Christ's  refusal  to  permit  John  and  James  to 
call  down  fire  upon  the  Samaritan  villages.  And 
also,  it  is  he  alone  who  records  the  great  songs 
of  the  nativity  of  our  Lord — the  Benedictus  of 
Zach arias,  the  Magnificat  of  Mary,  the  Nunc  Dimittis 
of  Simeon,  the  Ave  Maria  or  Angel's  greeting  to 
Mary,  and  the  Gloria  in  Excelsis.  Luke's  Gospel 
is  also  the  gospel  of  the  poor  and  outcast,  the  gospel 
of  womanhood  and  infancy,  and  the  gospel  of 
prayer. 

This  Gospel  also,  as  has  been  said,  strikes  a  note 

of  universality  not  attained  in  any  of  the  others, 

and  it  was  undoubtedly  written  more  particularly 

for  the  Gentile  world.    The  proof  of  this  is  abundant. 

*See  Vincent's  "Word  Studies  in  the  New  Testament.'^ 
Vol.  I. 


126  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

In  the  first  place,  there  is  its  dedication  or  ascription 
to  "his  excellency"  whom  Luke  designates  by  the 
name  of  "  Theophilus, "  probably  a  pseudonym  for 
some  particular  Roman  official  and  friend  of  his. 
The  entire  contents  of  the  book  also  bear  traces  of 
this  note  of  the  universality  of  the  Gospel  message. 
There  are  comparatively  few  quotations  from  the 
Old  Testament,  as  these  would  be  unfamiliar  to  hi& 
readers,  or  not  regarded  as  authoritative  even  if 
given.  He  explains  the  meaning  of  Hebrew  words 
and  geographical  references,  and  quotes  the  words  of 
the  aged  Simeon,  of  Zacharias,  and  of  John  the 
Baptist,  all  of  which  declared  the  light  of  the  Gospel 
was  to  be  the  light  of  the  Gentiles.  Likewise  Luke 
specially  emphasizes  Christ's  gentle  dealings  with 
the  Samaritans  and  his  frequent  commendations  of 
their  true  nobility  of  character. 

Such,  in  brief,  are  some  of  the  notable  character- 
istics of  this  the  most  literary  and  artistic  of  the 
Four  Gospels.  Incidentally  it  might  be  mentioned 
that  the  book  is  a  revelation  of  the  innermost  nature 
of  its  author  by  showing  to  us  what  specially  inter- 
ested him  and  the  matchless  skill,  beauty,  and 
tenderness  with  which  he  reports  and  portrays  the 
facts  he  has  gleaned  concerning  our  Lord  and  his 
life  and  ministry.  This  Gospel  reveals  its  author 
as  a  man  of  beautiful  spirit  and  delicate  taste,  and 
of  sincere  piety  joined  with  broad  intellectual  grasp 
and  keen  mental  insight. 

Passing  now  to  the  book  of  Acts,  we  have  before 
us  the  most  indispensable,  perhaps,  of  all  the  books 


LUKE  127 

of  the  New  Testament.  It  is  both  the  supplement 
and  the  complement  of  the  Gospels,  without  which 
they  would  not  be  made  perfect.  It  seems  to  me 
that  any  one  of  the  four  could  better  be  spared — 
provided  the  other  three  were  left — -than  the  book 
of  Acts.  The  Gospels  quite  largely  duplicate  each 
other,  but  there  is  no  book  that  duplicates  the  story 
of  Acts.  If  any  one  of  the  Gospels  had  never  been 
written,  the  world  would  probably  never  have  been 
conscious  of  its  loss.  Had  Acts  never  been  written, 
the  lack  of  such  a  book  would  have  been  felt  in 
every  generation  of  Bible  students,  and  the  gaps  in 
our  knowledge  of  the  Apostolic  Age  irreparable. 
To  be  sure  some  small  part  of  this  information  is 
found  in  an  unsystematic  and  fragmentary  form  in 
the  various  letters  of  St.  Paul:  but  those  letters 
themselves  would  be  largely  incomprehensible  with- 
out the  narrative  of  Acts,  and  their  value  much  less. 
In  Acts  we  have  recorded  the  fulfilment  of 
Christ's  promise  of  the  Spirit's  coming,  the  be- 
ginning of  church  organization,  the  first  admission 
of  Gentiles  into  the  Christian  church,  the  final 
settlement  of  their  relation  to  the  Mosaic  law  and 
Jewish  customs,  biographical  facts  about  the  Apostle 
to  the  Gentiles,  a  brief  outline  of  his  three  mission- 
ary journeys  and  the  part  his  many  friends  played 
in  making  them  such  triumphant  successes,  brief 
extracts  or  summaries  of  his  great  sermons  and  of 
his  addresses  in  his  own  defense  before  Felix,  Festus, 
and  Herod,  together  with  the  account  of  his  final 
voyage  as  a  prisoner  to  Rome. 


128  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

The  book  ends  most  abruptly  and  in  an  apparently- 
unfinished  manner  with  Paul,  though  a  prisoner, 
yet  "in  his  own  hired  house,  and  receiving  all  that 
came  unto  him,  preaching  the  kingdom  of  God,  and 
teaching  those  things  which  concern  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  with  all  confidence,  no  man  forbidding  him.'' 

Every  generation  of  Christians  has  deplored 
the  fact  that  Luke  does  not  relate  all  that  befell 
Paul  in  Rome,  nor  give  the  story  of  his  final  martyr- 
dom. Such  facts  Avould  add  greatly  to  our  historical 
knowledge  and  satisfy  our  eager  interest  in  all  that 
concerned  the  life  of  the  Apostle.  Now,  however, 
there  is  a  feeling  that  the  book  is  unfinished,  and 
various  explanations  have  been  attempted.  Some 
believe  Acts  was  to  have  been  followed  by  a  third 
book  which  was  never  written. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  it  is  altogether  probable  that 
Acts  was  written  after  Paul's  death,  that  Luke  was 
more  familiar  with  the  details  of  his  last  years  and 
martyrdom  than  any  other  man,  and  that  he  could 
have  told  the  whole  story  had  he  chosen.  Why  did 
he  not  do  so,  was  the  story  too  painful,  or  had  he 
other  reasons  ?  I  believe  the  latter  to  have  been  the 
cause,  and  that  it  is  not  impossible  to  discover  what 
these  reasons  were.  I  believe  they  lie  in  the  nature 
of  the  book  itself  and  Luke's  definite  plan  in  its 
composition.  For  formless  and  planless  as  the  book 
seems  in  its  rapid  passing  from  topic  to  topic  and 
from  men  to  men,  it  yet,  rightly  understood,  moves 
unswervingly  toward  its  foreseen  goal  and  climax. 

In  the   last  half   Paul's   name   is   so    constantly 


LUKE  129 

before  us,  and  the  account  of  his  activities  so  ex- 
clusive, that  he  seems  the  hero  of  Luke's  narrative. 
But  this  is  only  in  appearance,  it  is  not  the  fact  for 
a  moment.  Much  as  Luke  loved  and  admired  Paul, 
and  much  as  he  had  to  report  of  his  achievements, 
he  never  for  a  moment  loses  sight  of  his  supreme 
purpose.  He  begins  the  narrative  with  the  Apostles 
at  Jerusalem ;  then  he  tells  the  story  of  the  carrying 
of  the  Gospel  message  by  the  deacons  into  Samaria ; 
Christianity  next  reaches  Antioch  and  becomes  a 
grand  missionary  enterprise ;  from  Antioch  it  sweeps 
across  mountains  and  deserts,  and  on  over  islands 
and  seas  until  it  reaches  Imperial  Rome  herself.  The 
Church  has  arrived  at  the  heart  of  the  world.  It  has 
become  from  a  mere  Jewish  sect  in  an  obscure  corner 
of  the  Roman  Empire  the  prospective  religion  of 
mankind, — dominant,  imperial,  universal.  Like  Rome 
herself  it  now  sits  serenely  upon  the  Tiber's  Seven 
Hills  and  takes  in  all  nations,  kindreds,  and  tongues, 
in  its  world-sweeping,  prophetic  glance. 

"Why,  then,  should  Luke  concern  himself  with  a 
man  and  his  fate:  however  great  the  man,  he  had 
a  vaster  and  mightier  theme.  He  would  not  end 
his  narrative  with  a  tragedy,  but  with  a  shout  of 
triumph — a  triumph  which  was  yet  to  topple  over 
the  palace  of  the  Caesars  and  undermine  their 
throne.  Such  a  book  must  not  concern  itself  with 
the  tragic  fate  of  an  individual,  but  with  the  glory 
of  a  Gospel  enthroned.  Luke  ends  his  story  with 
Paul  preaching  that  Gospel,  for  this  was  the  true 
end  and  climax  of  the  command  of  the  risen  Christ 


130  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

in  Acts  1:8 — ''Ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me  both 
in  Jerusalem,  and  in  all  Judea,  and  in  Samaria,  and 
unto  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth."  This  com- 
mand in  itself  gives  in  compact  phrase  and  outline 
the  story  of  Acts,  and  the  unfolding  of  the  fulfilment 
of  which  Luke  makes  his  supreme  motive  and  guide. 

So  then  Paul's  death  need  not  be  told.  Its  telling 
would  have  been  a  literary  blemish  and  a  moral 
and  spiritual  anticlimax  in  a  book  of  such  vast  design. 
Paul  is  not  the  hero  of  Acts,  not  for  a  moment,  his 
personality  and  doings  are  but  the  necessary  mate- 
rial in  the  architecturally  magnificent  plan  of  Luke. 
The  one  only  and  unrivalled  hero — if  such  a  term 
be  allowable — is  Jesus  Christ  and  the  world-con- 
quering sweep  of  his  splendidly  aggressive  and 
triumphant  message  to  mankind. 

Having  now  briefly  pointed  out  the  permanent 
elements  and  world-significance  and  value  of  the 
two  books  written  by  Luke,  perhaps  we  should  also 
note  in  passing  that  some  see  another  motive  and 
purpose  in  their  composition.  It  is  held  that  both 
works  had  an  immediate  and  exigent  purpose;  that 
they  were  in  reality  and  primary  intent  masterly 
defenses  of  the  Christian  religion;  that  they  were 
written  at  a  time  when  the  heavy  hand  of  the  Roman 
emperors  was  everywhere  being  murderously  laid 
upon  the  followers  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  Luke's 
purpose  was  to  show  that  there  was  no  essential  or 
historic  reason  why  the  church  and  state  should 
misunderstand  or  be  hostile  to  each  other. 


LUKE  131 

The  evidence  produced  in  support  of  this  con- 
tention has  considerable  weight.  Both  books  are 
dedicated  to  a  Roman  official  of  high  position, — one 
already  instructed  in  the  fundamentals  of  the  new 
religion ;  and  through  him  it  was  hoped  and  expected 
that  they  would  have  wide  circulation  in  the  official 
world.  Both  books  connect  important  facts  in 
Christian  history  with  synchronous  dates  in  the 
affairs  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Both  books  portray 
the  spiritual  nature  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven, 
together  with  the  universality  of  its  appeal  and  offer 
of  salvation.  The  Gospel  shows  how  the  persecu- 
tions of  the  founder  of  Christianity  were  instigated 
by  the  bigotry  of  the  Jews,  not  waged  by  Rome; 
rather  did  the  Roman  official  Pilate  pronounce  Christ 
guiltless  of  any  offense  against  the  laws  of  the 
Empire;  and  Acts  tells  the  story  of  how  the  chiefest 
Apostle  of  all,  though  examined  again  and  again 
before  Roman  tribunals,  was  every  time  pronounced 
innocent  of  the  charges  against  him.  The  implica- 
tion of  all  this,  and  the  inference  Luke  intended  the 
official  world  to  draw,  was  that  if  Rome  should  in 
his  day  begin  a  policy  of  persecution  it  would  be 
a  most  radical  and  unwarranted  departure  from 
her  historic  attitude  of  impartiality  and  generous 
tolerance  of  the  new  and  innocent  religion. 

How  far  such  an  apologetic  motive  may  have 
prompted  the  writings  of  Luke  we  cannot  say.  But 
even  granting  weight  to  the  above  reasoning,  we 
do  not  thereby  in  any  way  negative  what  has  been 


132  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

said  about  the  grander  and  more  enduring  purpose 
and  value  of  his  two  masterpieces  of  Christian 
literature  and  inspired  Scripture. 

IV 

The  Congeniality  of  Luke  and  Paul 

The  congeniality  of  these  two  friends,  Luke  and 
Paul,  is  something  surpassingly  fair  to  contemplate. 
Their  mutual  affection  ran  so  deep  and  clear  as 
scarcely  ever  to  find  expression  in  words — one  im- 
mortal phrase  sounds  the  depths  and  compasses  the 
hights  of  Paul's  regard  for  his  friend,  "Luke  the 
beloved  physician."  What  a  commentary  is  this  on 
the  personality  of  Paul's  "fellow  laborer."  What 
a  revelation  of  the  winsomeness  of  the  man,  and 
also  of  his  gentleness  and  helpfulness  in  his  profes- 
sional capacity.  All  agree  that  Paul  was  far  from 
being  a  well  or  strong  man  physically.  And  I  have 
always  believed  that  Luke  must  have  been  his 
personal  physician,  as  well  as  inseparable  friend 
and  fellow  traveller  and  missionary. 

That  Luke  loved  Paul  with  equal  fervency  is  more 
than  proved  by  his  account  of  Paul 's  unapproachable 
services  to  Christianity,  by  his  years  of  devoted 
attachment  to  Paul's  person  and  work,  and  by  his 
dauntless  heroism  in  remaining  with  the  doomed 
prisoner  when  none  other  stood  by  his  side,  and 
when  his  loyalty  alone  would  have  been  sufficient 
cause  to  involve  him  in  the  same  martyrdom  that 
Paul  suffered. 


LUKE  133 

Nor  was  the  congeniality  of  these  two  men  solely 
one  of  the  heart.  It  was  not  limited  to  a  common 
loyalty  to  Christ.  It  was  not  measured  by  their 
equal  moral  and  physical  courage  in  the  face  of 
persecution  and  death.  That  congeniality  was 
something  larger  than  any  of  these  things,  or  than 
all  of  them  combined.  It  extended  to  the  widest 
realms  of  the  whole  intellectual  and  spiritual 
natures  of  the  two  men. 

In  culture,  in  character,  in  knowledge  of  the 
world,  in  statesmanlike  grasp  of  the  predestined 
conquests,  sway,  and  imperial  might  and  majesty 
of  Christianity  as  a  world  force,  not  another  man 
of  the  entire  New  Testament,  save  Paul  only,  is 
for  a  moment,  to  be  compared  with  Luke.  These 
two  men  alone  were  cosmopolitan  and,  in  the  best 
sense  of  the  phrase,  ^'men  of  the  world."  All  other 
New  Testament  authors  and  all  other  men  therein 
referred  to,  including  every  one  of  the  Twelve 
Apostles,  were,  compared  to  these  two,  mere  pro- 
vincials. Whatever  the  depths  of  others'  spiritual 
insight  and  grasp  of  the  great  fundamentals  of 
Christianity,  yet  they  were  what  is  termed  ''other 
worldly"  every  one  of  them,  and  significantly 
lacked  anything  approaching  a  comprehension  of 
the  true  relation  of  Christianity  to  civil  government 
and  national  life  and  institutions,  or  of  the  destined 
place  of  Christianity  as  a  world-conquering  and 
world-transforming  force.  Possibly  toward  the  end 
of  their  careers  both  Mark  and  Titus  may  have 
approached  something  of  the  cosmopolitan  outlook 


134  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

of  Luke  and  Paul;  but  in  breadth  of  culture  and 
depth  of  spiritual  insight  and  grasp,  they  never 
approximated  the  same  class. 

While  Luke  is  not  to  be  compared  with  Paul  as  a 
preacher  or  man  of  action  and  practical  achieve- 
ment, yet  he  does  rival  him  as  a  thinker  and  his- 
torian, in  the  breadth  and  solidity  of  his  learning^ 
and  in  his  grasp  of  the  essentials  of  Christianity 
as  a  religion  and  of  its  future  sway  as  an  imperial 
and  conquering  force  in  the  world's  affairs;  while, 
on  the  other  hand,  he  surpasses  Paul  as  a  literary 
artist,  and  somewhat  also  in  the  bulk  of  his  literary 
output. 

His  theological  views  were  practically  the  same 
as  St.  Paul's;  and  they  held  identical  views  as  to 
the  universality  of  the  Gospel  appeal,  message,  and 
power,  as  meant  for  and  adapted  to  men  of  every 
race,  degree  of  culture,  and  moral  status  or 
condition. 

While  Paul  undoubtedly  loved  Timothy  the  best 
of  all  his  friends,  yet  that  love  was  the  brooding 
paternal  affection  of  an  older  and  stronger  man  foi- 
one  whose  very  weaknesses  called  out  his  protecting 
strength ;  but  his  love  for  Luke  was  of  an  altogether 
different  nature,  one  that  in  no  way  came  into 
rivalry  with  his  affection  for  Timothy, — the  love  of 
one  strong  man  for  another  of  equal  strength,  years, 
and  ability.  There  is  a  fundamental  lack  of  equality 
and  mutualness  about  the  friendship  of  Paul  and 
Timothy;  they  never  were  and  never  could  be  on 
the  same  plane.     There  is  no  such  disparity  in  the 


LUKE  135 

mutual  love  of  Paul  and  Luke.  Titus  was  a  man  of 
more  independent  and  aggressive  practical  achieve- 
ments than  Luke,  in  all  other  respects  he  must  be 
put  in  another  and  somewhat  lower  class. 

Take  all  of  Paul's  friends  and  consider  all  their 
points  and  characteristics — mental,  spiritual,  intel- 
lectual, and  personal — and  Luke  will  be  found  the 
only  man  in  the  list,  and  the  only  man  of  the  entire 
New  Testament,  whom  we  can  think  of  as  anything 
like  Paul's  peer,  the  only  one  whom  we  can  con- 
jecture to  have  been  a  complete  companion  for  the 
varied  and  inexhaustible  riches  of  Paul's  mind. 

What  royal  banqueting  of  heart  and  soul  must 
have  been  theirs — whether  in  conversation  or  in 
silence — as  they  journeyed  together  over  the  fabled 
and  classic  land  of  Greece;  as  they  voyaged  from 
Caesarea  to  Rome  and  as  shipwrecked  mariners 
wintered  in  Malta;  as  together  with  imperial  vision 
they  labored  to  evangelize  Imperial  Rome  herself; 
as  they  sat  together  in  the  lonely  nightwatches  in 
Paul's  felon's  cell,  awaiting  the  fall  of  Nero*s 
bloody,  releasing,  crowning  axe — and  in  the  death 
of  the  one  "they  were  not  divided."  0  Luke,  thou 
man  of  the  "unsaid  word"  and  unheralded  deed, 
the  great  Apostle  knew  thee  as  thou  wert,  and  as 
his  mighty  heart  beat  in  rhythmic  music  to  thine 
own  his  unconscious  but  answering  hand  penned 
thine  immortal  epitaph — "Luke  the  beloved  physi- 


136  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

V 

What  Paul  and  Luke  Each  Owed  to  the  Other 

All  through  our  brief  review  of  this  holy  marriage 
of  two  of  the  mightiest  souls  whose  love  and  friend- 
ship has  ever  blessed  this  world  of  ours,  we  have 
been  constantly  finding  new  material  on  the  topic 
we  have  now  reached.  We  need  not  repeat  or 
enlarge  upon  what  has  gone  before,  merely  add  a 
word  or  two  farther. 

In  Paul's  letters  we  find  many  medical  terms  and 
allusions  which  are  undoubtedly  due  to  his  years 
of  constant  intercourse  with  St.  Luke.  On  the  other 
hand  in  Luke's  writings,  which  in  all  probability 
were  both  composed  after  Paul's  death,  we  find 
about  two  hundred  words  or  phrases  common  in  St. 
Paul's  epistles.  This  proves  the  influence  of  the 
latter  upon  Luke,  or  else  that  the  phraseology  was 
common  to  both  in  their  familiar  intercourse  and 
evangelistic  labors.  On  either  supposition  it  shows 
the  profound  affinity  of  the  two  men — mental, 
literary,  and  theological. 

Had  there  been  no  Paul,  what  would  have  been 
the  story  of  Luke's  personal  services  to  Christianity? 
Had  there  been  no  Paul,  of  what  would  Luke  have 
written  beyond  the  first  third  of  Acts?  Had  there 
been  no  Luke,  what  would  we  know  of  the  Apostolic 
Age,  of  Paul's  life  and  missionary  journeys,  and 
where  would  we  find  the  key  to  the  knotty  questions 
of  his  epistles? 


LUKE  137 

I  have  characterized  Luke  as  'Hhe  biographer  of 
St.  Paul."  The  phrase  does  not  do  him  justice. 
Let  me  amend  it  by  calling  him  *Hhe  most  indis- 
pensable friend  of  St.  Paul."  But  he  is  far  more 
even  than  that.  He  need  not  shine  by  borrowed 
light ;  he  is  himself  a  luminary  of  the  first  magnitude. 
With  Peter,  John  and  Paul,  he  must  forever  rank 
as  one  of  the  four  colossal  figures  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment. Though  inferior  to  the  other  three  in  the 
founding  and  spreading  of  Christianity,  yet  in  re- 
vealing its  essential  spirit  and  nature  and  in  record- 
ing its  mighty  advance  and  world  significance  and 
destiny,  he  surpasses  the  first  two  and  rivals  the 
third. 

0  man  of  matchless  heart  and  matchless  pen,  we 
need  not  compare  thy  merits  nor  praise  thy  great- 
ness. With  thee  we  have  heard  a  mother's 
** Magnificat"  and  listened  to  the  angels'  song 
above  Judea's  hills:  with  thee  we  have  journeyed 
with  a  Gospel  despised  and  persecuted  at  Jerusalem, 
till  we  have  seen  it  enthroned  on  the  Tiber's  Seven 
Hills. 


CHAPTER  VII 

Aquila  and  Priscilla — Paul's  Fellow  Craftsmen  and 
Fellow  Evangelists 


Our  information  concerning  their  activities  is 
based  upon  the  following  passages: — Acts  18:1-3, 
and  18-26,  Rom.  16 :3-5,  1  Cor.  16 :19,  and  2nd  Tim. 
4:19. 


THE  names  of  Aquila  and  Priscilla  have  a 
fairly  familiar  sound  to  every  student 
of  the  New  Testament;  but  if  asked  to 
tell  something  definite  about  them  I 
doubt  if  one  in  ten  of  average  Bible  readers 
could  give  any  information  beyond  the  fact  that 
they  were  tentmakers:  some  probably  would  not 
even  recall  that  fact.  Perhaps  this  is  not  altogether 
surprising  as  they  are  named  but  six  times  in  the 
entire  New  Testament,  their  names  being  found  in 
only  four  books, — three  times  in  Acts  18,  once  in 
Romans,  once  in  1st  Corinthians,  and  once  in  2nd 
Timothy.  Our  entire  information  concerning  them 
is  all  contained  in  just  eleven  verses, — six  in  Acts, 
three  in  Romans  and  a  fragment  of  a  verse  in  both 
1st  Corinthians  and  2nd  Timothy. 

138 


AQUILA  AND  PRISCILLA  139 

Our  conclusion  from  this  might  be  that  they  were 
persons  of  very  minor  importance,  that  there  is 
little  we  can  know  of  them,  and  that  that  little  is 
scarcely  worth  the  trouble  to  acquire ;  that  it  would 
add  nothing  essential  to  our  Biblical  knowledge,  to 
our  acquaintance  with  great  and  inspiring  charac- 
ters, or  to  our  understanding  of  the  more  notable  of 
Paul's  friends,  or  of  the  breadth  and  intensity  of 
his  friendships  and  their  value  to  his  heart  and  to 
his  labors.  Any  such  hasty  judgment  as  this  would 
be  totally  erroneous.  Aquila  and  Priscilla  are 
persons  we  cannot  afford  not  to  know.  We  ought 
to  make  their  acquaintance  for  many  reasons: — 
for  their  own  inherent  worth,  for  the  extension  of 
our  knowledge  of  early  missionaries  and  their  labors, 
and  for  our  farther  understanding  of  Paul's 
capacity  for  friendship,  and  how  he  always  made 
this  divine  endowment  tributary  to  his  life  mission. 

I 

Who  Aquila  and  Priscilla  Were 

Who  then  were  Aquila  and  Priscilla?  In  the  first 
place  they  were  husband  and  wife.  And  they  are 
the  only  husband  and  wife  in  all  Scripture  of  whom 
it  can  be  said  that  one  is  never  named  without  the 
other.  There  is  no  other  couple  in  Scripture  who 
were  both  so  continuously  and  unitedly  engaged  in 
religious  work.  Twice  Aquila,  the  husband,  is 
named  first;  four  times  the  wife  is  named  first, 
showing  that  there  was  practically  no  difference  in 


140  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

their  ability  and  zeal  in  the  Lord's  service.  All 
these  facts  give  them  a  place  of  unique  importance 
and  distinction. 

Aquila  was  a  Jew  of  "the  dispersion"  born  in 
Pontus,  a  Roman  province  in  northeastern  Asia 
Minor  bordering  on  the  Black  Sea.  Of  Priscilla's 
birthplace  and  nationality  we  know  nothing,  some 
conjecturing  she  was  a  member  of  an  eminent 
Roman  family  of  similar  name.  When  they  are 
first  introduced  to  us  in  the  narrative  in  Acts,  they 
are  fresh  arrivals  at  Corinth  having  come  there 
directly  from  Rome  whence  they  had  been  driven 
out  by  a  decree  of  the  Emperor  Claudius  expelling 
all  Jews.  From  secular  history  we  learn  that  this 
decree  was  promulgated  because  of  constant  turmoils 
in  the  Jewish  quarters,  which  arose  on  account  of 
the  preaching  of  Christ  by  unknown  disciples. 
Whether  Aquila  and  Priscilla  were  among  those  who 
first  told  the  Gospel  story  in  Rome,  and  if  so,  where 
they  first  learned  it,  are  questions  which  can  never 
be  answered.  Some  like  to  believe  that  they  were 
among  the  founders  of  the  Roman  church.  But  when 
Luke  first  mentions  Aquila  he  calls  him  a  ''certain 
Jew,"  and  not  a  ''disciple"  as  would  have  been 
more  natural  had  he  already  been  a  Christian;  nor 
does  he  say  anything  of  any  previous  service  the 
couple  had  rendered  Christianity.  These  facts  would 
seem  to  argue  that  they  were  not  Christians  at  the 
time  of  their  arrival  in  Corinth,  or  at  any  rate  had 


AQUILA  AND  PRISCILLA  141 

never  been  aggressive  workers.  One  other  fact 
concerning  them  is  given  us  at  this  point,  namely, 
both  husband  and  wife  were  tentmakers  by  trade. 

II 

What  Aquila  and  Priscilla  Owed  to  Paul  and  He  to 
Them 

When  Paul  reached  Corinth,  worn  out  by  his  defeat 
and  discouragement  at  Athens,  he  found  Aquila  and 
Priscilla  already  there.  Now  in  after  years  in  his 
first  letter  to  the  Corinthians  he  declared  that  he 
himself  planted  the  church  in  their  city.  This 
throws  a  side  light  on  his  influence  upon  Aquila  and 
Priscilla.  The  fact  that  they  were  there  before  him 
and  yet  had  taken  no  steps  to  establish  a  Christian 
community,  argues  that  either  they  were  not 
Christians  at  the  time,  or  else  they  were  not  active 
workers. 

But  the  fact  that  immediately  thereafter  and 
during  the  entire  rest  of  their  lives  they  were  fear- 
lessly and  aggressively  laboring  for  Christ,  seems  to 
prove  conclusively  that  whether  they  owed  their 
conversion  to  St.  Paul  or  not,  they  certainly  did  owe 
to  him  their  enlistment  for  life  in  that  work  to 
which  Paul  gave  'Hhe  last  full  measure  of  his 
devotion."  So  here  again  are  fresh  laurels  of 
friendship  and  friendship's  holiest  fruitage,  with 
which  to  adorn  anew  the  brow  of  the  great  Apostle. 
Aquila  and  Priscilla  owed  to  Paul  the  knowledge  of 
the  joy  of  service,  and  will  to  all  eternity  owe  to 
him  the  joy  of  the  memory  of  their  service  and  its 


142  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

rich  and  blessed  rewards.  He  entered  their  humble 
home  a  weary,  heart-worn  traveler,  unprepossessing 
in  appearance,  feared,  hated,  and  persecuted  by 
their  fellow  countrymen,  and  scoffed  and  jeered  at 
by  the  cultured  and  philosophical  Greeks  among^ 
whom  they  were  temporarily  residing.  He  spoke, 
his  face  lightened,  his  voice  thrilled,  the  flame  of 
his  spirit  set  on  fire  their  own — and  they  were  his 
and  his  Lord's  for  time  and  for  eternity.  But  Paul 
also  owed  them  much.  It  was  not  all  giving  and  no 
receiving  on  his  part. 

In  the  first  place  they  gave  him  a  home  when  he 
was  in  sorest  need  of  a  home's  shelter  and  gentle 
ministrations.  He  reached  Corinth  and  continued 
while  there  as  he  afterwards  wrote,  '4n  weakness, 
and  in  fear,  and  in  much  trembling."  Aquila  and 
Priscilla  were  in  worldly  circumstances  at  the  time 
but  poor  tradesmen ;  but  they  learned  that  a  fellow- 
craftsman  in  dire  straits  physically,  socially,  and 
mentally,  had  arrived  in  their  town.  That  was 
enough  for  them,  no  matter  who  he  was  or  that 
others  looked  at  him  askance,  their  hearts  and  home 
flew  open  to  receive  him.  They  gave  to  him  their 
hearts  and  their  home,  he  gave  them  entrance 
into  the  joy  of  his  life  mission.  Years  afterwards 
from  this  same  city  he  wrote  to  the  church  at  Rome 
where  Aquila  and  Priscilla  were  again  living,  calling 
them  his  "helpers  in  Christ  Jesus," — a  blessed  and 
grateful  remembrance  of  what  they  had  been  to 
him  and  his  work  in  Corinth  and  later  on  in  Ephesus. 


AQUILA  AND  PRISCILLA  143 

Nor  were  their  generous  hospitality,  tender  friend- 
ship, and  loyal  co-operation  the  only  services  they 
rendered  Panl.  At  some  period  of  their  labors 
together  in  the  cause  of  Christ,  they  fearlessly  im- 
periled their  own  lives  that  they  might  save  his. 
Paul's  words  concerning  this  occurrence  are — "who 
have  for  my  sake  laid  down  their  own  necks." 
Friendship  could  go  no  farther,  loyalty  to  Christ's 
service  could  go  no  farther.  They  deemed  his  life 
more  indispensable  to  Christianity  than  their  own, 
death  had  threatened  him,  they  stepped  into  the 
breach,  Paul  was  saved. 

Here  is  another  obligation  Paul  was  under  to  his 
friends.  Without  friends  his  world-service  could 
never  have  been  what  it  was;  nay,  his  life  itself 
would  have  been  forfeited  long  years  before  the 
end  finally  came,  for  again  and  again  during  his 
perilous  travels  and  labors  did  they  save  his  life. 
Here  then  is  another  tribute  to  the  glory  of  friend- 
ship, another  measurement  of  the  inestimable  value 
of  the  friendships  of  St.  Paul.  This  deed  of  Priscilla 
and  Aquila  was  well  known  to  the  early  church. 
And  the  obligations  under  which  the  church  of  that 
day  rested  because  of  their  act  of  heroism  was  freely 
and  gratefully  acknowledged  everjrwrhere,  for  Paul 
wrote  of  them — "unto  whom  not  only  I  give  thanks, 
but  also  all  the  churches  of  the  Gentiles."  Here  is 
an  added  reason  why  we  as  Christians  and  Bible 
students  should  recognize  the  significance  of  the 
lives  of  these  friends  of  St.  Paul.  We  of  this  day 
and  generation  owe  to  them  as  did  the  early  church 


144  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

the  saving  of  Paul's  life,  and  we  should  as  gener- 
ously acknowledge  the  obligation. 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  in  the  account  of  this  brave 
deed  husband  and  wife  were  one  as  in  all  else. 
Priscilla's  name  is  in  this  instance  given  first,  and 
all  the  pronouns  used  in  Paul's  recital  of  the  occur- 
rence are  in  the  plural  number.  ' '  Greater  love  hath 
no  man  than  this,  that  a  man  lay  down  his  life  for 
his  friends."  So  these  tentmakers  reached  the 
loftiest  hights  of  friendship,  Christ's  own  words  so 
declaring. 

Just  where  and  when  this  defense  of  Paul's  life 
took  place  we  cannot  tell,  as  Luke  makes  no  refer- 
ence to  it  in  Acts;  but  it  may  very  well  have  been 
at  Corinth  or  at  Ephesus  in  both  of  which  cities  they 
labored  with  him  for  long  periods  of  time.  In 
Corinth  Luke  informs  us  that  at  one  time  the  Jews 
raised  a  mob  against  Paul,  and  that  during  the 
disturbance  Sosthenes,  another  friend  of  Paul's,  was 
openly  beaten  by  the  Greeks,  even  before  Gallio's 
judgment  seat,  and  without  interference  on  his  part. 
If  this  was  not  the  occasion  when  Aquila  and  Pris- 
cilla  saved  Paul's  life,  then  in  all  probability  it  was 
at  Ephesus  while  they  were  laboring  together  there. 
It  will  be  recalled  what  a  mob  Demetrius  the  silver- 
smith raised  in  that  city,  saying  among  other  things 
to  the  infuriated  multitude — ''Moreover  ye  see  and 
hear,  that  not  alone  at  Ephesus,  but  almost  through- 
out all  Asia,  this  Paul  hath  persuaded  and  turned 
away  much  people,  saying  that  they  be  no  gods, 
which  are  made  with  hands."     Then  later  follows 


AQUILA  AND  PEISCILLA  145 

this  account  of  the  course  of  the  attack  which  was 
precipitated: — "And  the  whole  city  was  filled  with 
confusion:  and  having  caught  Gains  and  Aristar- 
chus,  men  of  Macedonia,  Paul's  companions  in 
travel,  they  rushed  with  one  accord  into  the  theater. 
And  when  Paul  would  have  entered  in  unto  the 
people,  the  disciples  suffered  him  not.  And  certain 
of  the  chief  of  Asia,  which  were  his  friends,  sent 
unto  him,  desiring  him  that  he  would  not  adventure 
himself  into  the  theater." 

Among  the  ''disciples"  who  restrained  and  pro- 
tected Paul  at  the  hazard  of  their  own  lives,  may 
very  well  have  been  Aquila  and  Priscilla;  and  it 
may  have  been  in  their  own  home  where  he  was 
forcibly  restrained  and  outwardly  guarded.  But  be 
the  place  and  time  where  and  when  they  may,  of 
the  facts  of  their  protection  and  saving  of  his  life 
there  can  be  no  question;  and  he  always  carried 
with  him  a  tender  and  vivid  recollection  of  the 
loving  bravery  of  his  staunch-hearted  helpers  and 
friends,  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  his  fellow  craftsmen 
and  fellow  evangelists. 

It  is  also  probable  that  Paul's  deep  interest  in 
the  Roman  church,  and  his  minute  knowledge  of  its 
condition  and  affairs,  were  derived  from  his  inter- 
course with  these  same  friends ;  and  that  his  ardent 
and  ever  increasing  desire  to  visit  those  far  away 
brethren  of  the  Imperial  City  was  kindled  in  like 
manner,  or,  perhaps  by  their  direct  appeals  that 
he  should  do  so. 


146  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

III 

Aquila   and  FrisciUa's   Manifold   Services   to 
Christianity 

In  enumerating  the  manifold  services  to  Chris- 
tianity rendered  by  Aquila  and  Priscilla  it  is  not 
necessary  to  repeat  here  what  has  already  been  said 
of  their  relation  to  Paul, — how  they  furnished  him 
a  home  at  Corinth,  aided  him  there  in  all  his  labors 
for  Christ,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  once  saved  his  life. 

Another  far-reaching  service  which  they  rendered 
to  Christianity  was  also  given  through  a  single 
individual  to  whom  they  gave  invaluable  instruction 
in  the  things  of  Christ.  This  story  may  best  be 
given  in  Luke's  own  words.  ''And  a  certain  Jew 
named  Apollos,  born  at  Alexandria,  an  eloquent 
man,  and  mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  came  to  Ephesus. 
This  man  was  instructed  in  the  way  of  the  Lord: 
and  being  fervent  in  spirit,  he  spake  and  taught 
diligently  the  things  of  the  Lord,  knowing  only  the 
baptism  of  John.  And  he  began  to  speak  boldly  in 
the  synagogue:  whom  when  Aquila  and  Priscilla 
had  heard,  they  took  him  unto  them,  and  expounded 
unto  him  the  way  of  God  more  perfectly.  And  when 
he  was  disposed  to  pass  into  Achaia,  the  brethren 
wrote,  exhorting  the  disciples  to  receive  him:  who, 
when  he  was  come,  helped  them  much  which  had 
believed  through  grace:  for  he  mightily  convinced 
the  Jews,  and  that  publicly,  shewing  by  the  Scrip- 
tures that  Jesus  was  Christ." 


AQUILA  AND  PRISCEjLA  147 

What  a  tribute  is  this  to  the  courage  of  this 
humble,  consecrated  couple — tentmakers  by  trade — 
who  ventured  to  instruct  the  most  eloquent  and  one 
of  the  most  learned  men  of  the  New  Testament ;  and 
what  tact  they  showed  in  doing  this  privately,  prob- 
ably in  their  own  home,  and  in  such  a  way  as  to 
give  no  offense.  As  Apollos  afterwards  went  over 
Greece  thrilling  and  convincing  multitudes  of  men 
with  the  story  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  his  pow-ir 
and  success  were  in  no  small  measure  the  fruitage 
of  the  sowing  of  Aquila  and  Priscilla. 

Paul  is  usually  spoken  of  as  the  founder  of  the 
church  at  Corinth.  He  himself  declares  that  he 
** planted"  it.  This  is  of  course  true  in  the  sense 
that  he  was  the  preeminent  leader  in  that  work, 
but  it  must  be  remembered  that  all  the  while  he 
was  laying  those  foundations — '*a  year  and  six 
months" — he  had  with  him  four  consecrated  and 
efficient  helpers, — Silas,  Timothy,  and  Aquila  and 
Priscilla.  So  this  husband  and  wife  rendered  that 
church  a  threefold  service, — they  entertained  Paul 
while  laboring  there;  they  themselves  were  his 
"helpers  in  Christ"  during  the  entire  year  and  a 
half  he  spent  in  laying  its  foundations ;  and  later  on, 
they,  by  the  voice  of  Apollos,  though  far  distant 
themselves,  yet  spake  the  word  in  that  city. 

When  Paul  finally  left  Corinth  to  hasten  to  Jeru- 
salem to  keep  one  of  the  feasts,  so  profound  was  his 
faith  in  the  ability  and  consecration  of  Aqaila  and 
Priscilla  that  he  took  them  with  him  to  Ephosus; 
and  after  the  briefest  possible  stay  there  hastened 


148  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

on  his  journey,  leaving  them  to  carry  on  the  work 
independently.  Here  they  remained  diligently  at 
work  during  probably  the  entire  inter\al  elapsing 
between  his  second  and  third  missionary  journeys  to 
that  region — a  period  of  some  three  years  —in  which 
time  he  visited  Caesarea,  Antioch,  and  Jerusalem; 
and  then  slowly  retraced  his  steps  going  "over  all 
the  country  of  Galatia  and  Phrygia  in  order, 
strengthening  all  the  disciples."  At  length  havijg 
arrived  at  Ephesus  once  more,  he  found  Aqiiila  and 
Priscilla  still  there  and  still  faithfully  at  work  as 
he  had  left  them.  Hence  they,  far  more  than  Paul 
himself,  were  the  real  founders  of  the  Ephesian 
church,  a  church  which  at  various  times  enjoyed 
the  preaching  and  pastoral  services  of  such  men  as 
Apollos,  Paul,  Timothy,  and,  lastly,  John,  "the 
beloved    disciple." 

When  Paul  reached  Ephesus  he  joined  Aquila  and 
Priscilla  whose  faithful  work  had  been  quietly 
spreading  for  three  years,  and,  as  every^vhere  eh.e, 
he  at  once  became,  without  any  effort  on  his  part 
but  bj^  right  of  his  imperial  genius,  the  dominant 
personality  and  central  figure  in  the  evangelistic 
campaign  already  well  under  way.  Things  now 
began  to  move  quickly  and  soon  multitudes  were 
converted,  books  of  magic  were  publicly  burned,  and 
an  uproar  was  on. 

Here  Paul  labored  two  years,  probably  enjoying 
the  assistance  of  Aquila  and  Priscilla  during  the 
entire  time,  for  it  is  from  this  city  he  wrote  to  the 
church  at  Corinth  and  sent  the  greetings  of  these 


AQUILA  AND  PRISCILLA  149 

friends,  and  also  the  greetings  of  ''the  church  that 
was  in  their  house."  So  their  services  to  the  church 
at  Ephesus  were  the  founding  of  the  church  itself, 
laboring  for  its  welfare  some  five  continuous  years, 
and,  lastly,  furnishing  their  home  for  the  regular 
gathering  place  of  believers  for  worship.  And  it 
may  be  said  in  passing  that  this  is  our  reason  for 
believing  it  may  have  been  at  Ephesus  where  they 
saved  Paul 's  life  from  the  attacks  of  the  mob  which 
was  incited  to  murderous  frenzy  by  the  malignant 
and  crafty  eloquence  of  Demetrius  the  silversmith. 

We  next  hear  of  these  devoted  missionaries  and 
evangelists  back  at  Rome,  and  again,  as  at  Ephesus, 
there  was  "a  church  in  their  house."  To  them  and 
to  the  church  Paul  sent  remembrances  and  greet- 
ings in  his  letter  to  the  Romans  which  was  written 
at  Corinth. 

The  last  time  their  names  occur  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  where  Paul,  in  his  second  letter  to  Timothy, 
again  sends  them  his  greetings.  From  this  letter 
and  his  greetings  we  learn  that  they  were  now  a 
second  time  in  Ephesus  and  were  upholding  with  all 
their  old  time  fervor  and  zeal  the  hands  of  their 
young  pastor  Timothy  in  his  critical  and  laborious 
ministry  in  that  city.  This  is  the  last  information 
we  have  concerning  them.  If  this  were  the  last 
service  they  ever  rendered  Christ  and  his  church, 
what  a  climax  to  what  useful  lives.  What  fairer 
evening  could  there  have  been  to  such  a  blessed 
couple  than   spending  the   moments   of  its   sunset 


150  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

glory  counseling,  aiding,  and  steadying  a  young  min- 
ister in  a  great  church  of  which  they  themselves  in 
a  quiet  way  were  the  real  founders. 

Whether  Aquila  and  Priscilla  were  great  in  intel- 
lectual ability  or  not,  we  have  no  means  of  judging ; 
but  we  do  know  they  were  giants  in  character  and 
mighty  in  usefulness. 

Great  preachers  they  entertained,  instructed,  and 
protected.  Their  homes  became  churches  in  two  con- 
tinents. Great  cities  and  varied  races  knew  them 
face  to  face,  and  heart  to  heart.  Their  life  work  is 
inseparably  associated  with  Rome,  Corinth,  and 
Ephesus.  Their  names  on  earth  are  inseparably 
associated  with  those  of  ApoUos,  Timothy,  and  Paul. 
Their  reward  in  heaven  is  that  of  righteous  men  and 
prophets  for  the  Master  himself  hath  said — ''He 
that  receiveth  a  prophet  in  the  name  of  a  prophet 
shall  receive  a  prophet's  reward;  and  he  that  re- 
ceiveth a  righteous  man  in  the  name  of  a  righteous 
man  shall  receive  a  righteous  man's  reward." 

Their  whole  lives  after  meeting  with  Paul  at  Cor- 
inth and  after  they  came  under  the  spell  of  his  impe- 
rial heart  and  master  passion,  were  lives  of  hardship, 
of  personal  danger,  of  ceaseless  toil,  of  homelessness 
or  incessant  changing  of  their  homes,  as  peril  or  duty 
compelled  or  dictated.  What  endless  thousands  of 
miles  they  traveled  over  seas  and  mountains  and 
plains,  ever  hastening  onward  on  the  King's  busi- 
ness. How  they  toiled  at  their  trade  of  tentmaking 
as  did  Paul  himself  that  they  might  be  independent 


AQUILA  AND  PRISCILLA  151 

and  self  supporting,  and  devote  all  their  powers  to 
the  service  of  God. 

They  were  willing  to  go  through  life  with  never  a 
permanent  home  in  order  that  the  homeless  churches 
of  Christ  might  find  homes  in  their  temporary  abid- 
ing places.  In  the  providence  of  God  they  were  led 
from  city  to  city  and  from  continent  to  continent, 
here  to  found  a  church,  there  to  furnish  persecuted 
believers  a  place  of  worship,  again  to  instruct  some 
young  preacher,  furnish  some  prophet  of  the  Lord 
a  home,  or  defend  some  life  at  the  hazard  of  their 
own.  What  a  husband  and  wife  were  they,  what 
unity  of  heart  and  head  and  hand.  Match  them  in 
Scripture  you  cannot.  Who  in  the  annals  of  time 
are  their  peers  ? 

TV 

The  Majesty  and  Divinity  of  Human  Friendship 

There  is  something  about  the  friendship  of  these 
two  with  St.  Paul  and  its  significance  to  the  world 
that  is  almost  too  sacred  for  eulogy  or  comment. 
It  need  not  be  eulogized.  The  simple  telling  of  the 
tale  is  sufficient.  In  Paul's  dying  hour  he  sent  them 
his  heart's  last  greetings.  In  life  he  had  multiplied 
his  personality  and  presence  and  power  through 
them  and  their  labors;  after  his  death  he  was  still 
laboring  through  them  in  his  old  pastorate  at 
Ephesus.  And  how  they,  too,  multiplied  their  per- 
sonality and  power  through  the  gifted  and  eloquent 
tongue  of  Apollos  as  he  hurried  from  city  to  city  of 
ancient    Greece,    outshining    with    his    resplendent 


152  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

eloquence  her  own  native  orators,  famed  in  song 
and  story,  even  as  he  had  a  sublimer  and  loftier 
theme  than  they. 

Surely  v^^e  can  know  Paul  only  as  we  know  his 
capacity  for  friendship.  We  can  know  the  greatness 
of  his  life  and  labors  only  as  we  measure  the  life 
and  labors  of  his  friends,  among  whose  names, 
shining  with  a  lustre  all  their  own,  we  read  those  of 
the  two  humble  tentmakers  Aquila  and  Priscilla, 
husband  and  wife,  one  in  consecration  on  earth,  one 
in  glory  in  heaven. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Apollos — The  Man  Whose  Career  Proves  There  Was 
No  Jealousy  in  Paul's  Friendships 


The  story  of  Apollos 's  career  is  found  in  the  fol- 
lowing passages: — Acts  18:24,  19:1,  1st  Cor.  1:12, 
3:4-22,  4:6,  16:12,  and  Titus  3:13. 


AT  first  glance  the  title  chosen  for  our 
sketch  of  Paul's  friendship  with 
Apollos  may  sound  derogatory  to  each 
man.  The  denial  itself  may  seem  to 
belittle  our  conception  of  the  greatness  of  Paul  by 
the  very  fact  that  we  should  deem  it  essential  to 
be  made. 

But  such  is  not  really  the  case.  It  rather  en- 
hances his  greatness  by  showing  that  he  was  free 
from  those  petty  vanities  and  weaknesses  which 
have  commonly  marred  the  characters  of  so  many 
of  the  greatest  men  of  history.  It  presents  St.  Paul 
to  us  as  preeminent  among  the  preeminent  in  the 
lesser  virtues  of  life  as  well  as  in  the  more  rugged 
and  striking  ones.  How  many  of  the  great  men  in 
church  and  state  have  been  bitterly  jealous  not  only 
of  their  chief  rivals,  but  even  of  the  successes  and 
honors  which  were  gained  by  their  own  subordinate 
friends    and    devoted    adherents.     Paul    gathered 

153 


154  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

about  himself  a  circle  of  brilliant  young  men;  but 
in  their  talents,  honors,  and  successes,  not  only  was 
there  not  a  taint  of  jealousy  or  suspicion  on  his 
part,  but  rather  encouragement,  pride,  and  re- 
joicings. 

I  have  also  said  that  our  title  may  sound  deroga- 
tory to  a  man  of  Apollos's  gifts,  for  it  might  be  said 
that  he  and  his  career  are  used  merely  as  a  foil  to 
set  off  a  minor  virtue  of  St.  Paul.  But  neither  is 
this  true.  Rather  does  our  title  do  him  honor  also 
by  singling  him  out  as  a  man  of  such  mark  that  he 
alone  of  Paul's  score  of  friends,  was  the  one  whose 
talents  were  best  calculated  to  arouse  jealousy  in 
the  heart  of  any  man  capable  of  harboring  that 
passion.  This  absence  of  jealousy  between  these  two 
great  men  is  to  my  mind  the  very  crown  and  halo  of 
their  friendship.  Never  do  I  recall  this  particular 
friendship  of  Paul's  without  thinking  of  this  as  its 
chief  beauty  and  glory. 

I 

Who  Apollos  Was 

Apollos  has  already  been  introduced  to  us  in  the 
sketch  of  Aquila  and  Priscilla;  but  in  order  that 
each  study  may  be  complete  in  itself,  let  us  assume 
that  we  are  now  to  make  his  acquaintance  for  the 
first  time. 

Like  Aquila,  who  was  born  in  Pontus,  Apollos  was 
also  a  Jew  of  "the  dispersion,"  born  on  the  con- 
tinent of  Africa  in  the  city  of  Alexandria.  We  first 
meet  him   at   Ephesus.     He   is  described   as   "elo- 


APOLLOS  155 

<quent,"  the  only  man  so  spoken  of  in  the  entire 
Bible.  This  fact  alone  will  give  us  some  idea  of  his 
remarkable  powers.  We  are  also  told  that  he  was 
*' mighty  in  the  Scriptures,  instructed  in  the  Way  of 
the  Lord,  and  fervent  in  spirit."  Here  we  have  the 
portrayal  of  a  splendidly  equipped  preacher:  he 
knows  his  Bible,  has  command  of  the  facts  of 
Christ's  life,  and  is  wholly  consecrated  to  his  work. 

Nor  is  this  the  entire  story  of  his  equipment  and 
endowments.  lie  was  on  a  missionary  or  evangelis- 
tic tour  when  he  arrived  in  Ephesus,  where  Aquila 
and  Priscilla  were  already  quietly  at  work  founding 
a  church,  left  there  for  this  purpose  by  their  friend 
St.  Paul. 

At  once  upon  his  arrival  ApoUos  entered  into  the 
synagogue  and  spake  "boldly,"  hence  he  was  a 
fearless  man.  He  taught  "diligently,"  and  hence 
was  faithful  as  pastor  and  guide.  Naturally  Aquila 
and  Priscilla  went  to  hear  him.  They  discovered  in 
the  man  and  his  message  but  a  single  deficiency,  a 
deficiency  of  knowledge  of  fact  only:  in  all  other 
respects — eloquence,  learning,  consecration,  fidelity, 
and  fervency — he  was  the  ideal,  the  master  preacher. 

The  one  deficiency  they  discovered  was  this — ^he 
knew  only  the  "baptism  of  John."  He  had  never 
heard  of  Pentecost  or  the  "baptism  of  the  Spirit.'' 
This  presented  a  difficult  problem  to  Aquila  and 
Priscilla,  who  were  but  tentmakers  and  lay  members 
of  the  church,  while  the  speaker  was  the  most  elo- 
quent and  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  his  genera- 
tion.   Yet  duty  was  plain,  and  where  duty  called  the 


156  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

feet  and  tongues  of  Aquila  and  Priscilla  were  never 
laggard  nor  afraid.  With  fine  moral  courage  and 
delicate  tact  they  took  Apollos  ''unto  them,"  prob- 
ably to  their  own  home,  even  as  years  before  at 
Corinth  they  had  shared  their  humble  lodgings  with 
the  persecuted  Paul.  Here  ''they  expounded  unto 
him  the  way  of  God  more  perfectly." 

With  the  simplicity  and  humility  of  the  truly 
great,  Apollos  was  glad  to  sit  at  the  feet  of  these 
quiet,  self-supporting,  lay  evangelists,  while  he 
drank  in  from  their  glowing  lips  an  access  of  power 
which  in  the  years  to  come  was  mightily  to  sway 
ancient  Greece  with  the  torrent  of  his  resistless 
eloquence  as  he  proclaimed  the  Gospel  message. 

In  ability  as  a  preacher  Apollos  probably  out- 
ranked Barnabas,  "the  son  of  exhortation,"  and 
stood  first  among  all  the  friends  of  Paul.  In  fact  he 
ranked  with  Paul  himself  in  this  particular  talent 
and  clearly  outshone  him  in  popular  gifts  and 
graces,  even  though  he  may  have  been  inferior  in 
the  sweep  of  his  powers  and  the  depth  of  his  spirit- 
ual insight.  In  general  ability  also  he  seems  to 
have  been  regarded,  at  least  at  Corinth,  as  fuUy 
Paul's  equal;  though  beyond  question  this  was  an 
erroneous  judgment,  still  it  is  a  remarkable  tribute 
to  his  essential  greatness.  Paul  also  speaks  of 
Apollos  in  the  same  category  with  himself  and  St. 
Peter,  another  unconscious  tribute  to  his  brilliant 
qualities. 

In  one  other  respect  besides  his  popular  eloquence, 
ApoUos  would  appear  to  have  been  the  equal  if  not 


APOLLOS  157 

the  superior  of  St.  Paul,  that  is,  in  tact  and  in  the 
ability  to  proclaim  an  unpopular  message  without 
arousing  the  personal  hostility  and  antagonisms 
which  everywhere  accompanied  the  preaching  of  the 
latter.  There  is  no  hint  of  any  mob  spirit  being  ex- 
cited in  any  place  where  Apollos  preached.  Nor  was 
this  due  to  any  cringing  or  keeping  back  of  any  part 
of  the  message  of  the  Cross.  In  Ephesus  we  are  told 
he  spoke  ''boldly,*'  yet  no  man  lifted  a  hand  against 
him.  All  through  Greece  ''he  mightily  convinced  the 
Jews,  and  that  publicly,  shewing  by  the  Scriptures, 
that  Jesus  was  Christ;"  yet  no  personal  violence 
was  done  him.  Contrast  all  this  with  the  murderous 
assaults  made  upon  Paul  in  these  same  cities  of 
Ephesus  and  Corinth,  and  in  other  places. 

Of  course  the  difference  may  be  accounted  for  in 
part  on  other  grounds;  but  after  all  due  allowances 
are  made,  it  yet  seems  to  be  true  that  Apollos  could 
preach  with  boldness  equal  to  St.  Paul's  and  in  the 
very  same  cities,  without  arousing  the  personal  ani- 
mosity excited  by  the  latter. 

The  confidence  in  his  ability  and  consecration 
which  Apollos  inspired  on  the  part  of  the  brethren 
at  Ephesus,  who  had  heard  him  preach  and  knew 
him  personally,  is  fully  attested  by  their  letters 
which  unanimously  commended  him  to  the  churches 
of  Greece  when  he  was  disposed  to  go  thither  on  an 
evangelistic  tour.  His  successes  among  that  classic 
but  scoffing  people  were  brilliant  in  the  extreme. 
He  "helped  them  much  which  had  believed  through 


158  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

grace, ' '  and  fearlessly  met  and  splendidly  overthrew 
the  doubts  and  arguments  of  unbelievers. 

II 

Why  Paul  Might  Have  Been  Jealous  of  Apollos 

It  is  time  now  to  address  ourselves  directly  ta 
the  negation  contained  in  our  general  characteriza- 
tion of  Apollos  and  his  relation  to  St.  Paul,  and 
raise  the  question  why  the  latter  might  have  been 
jealous  of  him,  or, — to  phrase  our  inquiry  so  that  it 
will  cast  no  shadow  of  reflection  upon  Paul — why 
would  almost  any  other  man  save  Paul  have  been 
jealous?  There  are  three  obvious  reasons  why  such 
might  have  been  the  case, — Apollos 's  great  gifts,, 
his  method  of  evangelism,  and  his  personal  popu- 
larity. Let  us  examine  separately  and  with  some 
degree  of  minuteness  each  one  of  these  jealousy- 
provoking  facts. 

First,  Apollos 's  great  gifts.  Apollos  was  an 
orator,  Paul  was  not  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  that 
term.  The  former  was  strongest  where  the  latter 
was  weakest.  Apollos  had  remarkable  gifts  both  of 
person  and  voice,  Paul  had  neither.  And  Paul  was 
not  only  conscious  of  Apollos 's  gifts  but  also  aware 
of  his  own  deficiencies;  and  not  only  was  he  aware 
of  them  but  also  sensitive  on  the  subject,  more 
sensitive,  perhaps,  than  to  any  other  one  thing. 
This  is  shown  in  his  letter  to  the  Corinthians  by  his 
almost  pathetic  description  of  his  limitations  and 
weaknesses  when  he  first  came  among  them,  of 
which    he    afterwards    wrote: — ''And    I,    brethren. 


APOLLOS  159 

when  I  came  to  you,  came  not  with  excellency  of 
speech  or  of  wisdom,  declaring  unto  you  the  testi- 
mony of  God.  .  .  .  And  I  was  with  you  in 
weakness,  and  in  fear,  and  in  much  trembling.  And 
my  speech  and  my  preaching  was  not  with  enticing 
words  of  man's  wisdom,  but  in  demonstration  of  the 
Spirit  and  of  power."  Note  the  last  phrase  "in 
demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power,"  by 
which  the  Apostle  endeavors  to  point  out  what 
equipment  he  did  have  which  atoned  for  his  lack 
in  other  respects.  All  this  was  written  after 
Apollos's  brilliant  and  successful  mission  to  Corinth 
had  taken  place. 

In  Paul's  words  it  is  easy  to  see  there  is  a  con- 
scious or  unconscious  comparison  of  himself  with 
Apollos,  which  shows  how  stung  and  humiliated  he 
was  by  his  own  lack  of  the  outwardly  more  attrac- 
tive graces  of  public  speech.  This  fact  is  again 
brought  out  by  his  farther  references  to  the  same 
thing  in  his  second  letter  where  he  says — ''but 
though  I  be  rude  in  speech,  yet  not  in  knowledge.'^ 
But  the  strongest  evidence  of  all  as  to  how  humil- 
iated he  was  is  his  quotation  of  the  biting  jibes  of 
his  critics  and  detractors.  These  are  his  words — 
''For  his  letters,  say  they,  are  weighty  and  power- 
ful; but  his  bodily  presence  is  weak,  and  his  speech 
contemptible. ' '  When  we  consider  how  this  scoffing^ 
criticism  rankled  in  Paul's  memory  it  would  not 
have  been  surprising  if  even  such  a  man  as  he  had 
felt  some  slight  twinges  of  jealousy  of  a  man  so> 
gifted  as  Apollos. 


160  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

We  have  also  said  that  Apollos's  ''method  of 
evangelism"  was  calculated  to  incite  Paul's 
jealousy,  or,  rather,  would  have  incited  the  jealousy 
of  a  weaker  and  lesser  man.  What  was  that  method 
of  evangelism?  Either  by  chance  or  by  design 
Apollos  followed  Paul's  back  track  and  preached 
in  the  latter 's  old  parishes  where  he  had  undergone 
untold  toil  and  peril  in  establishing  churches. 
Apollos  came  to  these  with  letters  of  commendation, 
thus  assuring  him  a  cordial  welcome  wherever  he 
might  go.  This  in  itself  would  not  necessarily  have 
aroused  any  suspicion  or  jealousy,  had  it  not  been 
for  the  fact  that  many  other  men  followed  Paul  with 
malice  aforethought  on  purpose  to  undermine  his 
influence  and  assail  his  claims  to  Apostolic  standing. 
In  view  of  these  facts  had  Paul  been  any  ordinary 
man,  he  would  have  been  suspicious  of  Apollos [s 
designs.  Such  suspicion  would  seem  to  have  been 
justified  by  the  factional  outbreak  which  followed 
Apollos's  visit  to  Corinth,  which  rent  that  church  in 
twain  and  cost  Paul  no  end  of  labor  and  anxiety 
and  tears,  letters,  messages,  and  messengers,  before 
tranquility  was  even  partially  restored.  Nothing 
could  have  been  more  natural  for  one  at  a  great 
distance  than  to  suppose  that  Apollos  was  purposely 
undermining  his  influence  and  intriguing  against 
him. 

There  was  one  other  reason  suggested  why  Paul's 
jealousy  of  Apollos  might  have  been  kindled, — the 
latter 's  personal  popularity.  Few  great  men  can 
view  with  equanimity  the  praise  of  another  who  is 


APOLLOS  161 

constantly  compared  with  themselves,  and  contin- 
uously praised  to  their  own  direct  disparagement. 
And  the  situation  is  aggravated  if  that  rival  is 
gaining  his  popularity  among  a  people  whom  he 
himself  has  most  faithfully  served,  for  whom  he  has 
endured  every  peril,  and  whom  he  loves  most  pas- 
sionately. Such  was  the  situation  of  affairs  at 
Corinth,  the  condition  at  one  time  of  things  between 
Paul  and  Apollos. 

Paul  had  founded  the  church  and  labored  there 
for  nearly  or  quite  two  years  with  unabating  ardor 
and  often  in  deadly  peril;  he  loved  the  Corinthians 
with  a  pureness  and  strength  of  devotion  resembling 
domestic  affections  of  the  highest  type.  He  "wrote** 
to  them  as  to  his  "beloved  sons,"  he  "spoke**  to 
them  "as  unto  his  children."  And  farther  he  said — 
"For  though  ye  have  ten  thousand  instructors  in 
Christ,  yet  ha^e  ye  not  many  fathers:  for  in  Christ 
Jesus  1  have  begotten  you  through  the  gospel. 
.  .  .  For  out  of  much  affliction  and  anguish  of 
heart  I  wrote  unto  you  with  many  tears;  not  that 
ye  should,  be  grieved,  but  that  ye  might  know  the 
love  which  T  have  more  abundantly  unto  you.  .  .  . 
T  will  not  be  burdensome  unto  you:  for  I  seek  not 
yours,  but  you:  for  the  children  ought  not  to  lay  up 
for  the  parents,  but  parents  for  the  children.  And 
I  will  very  gladly  spend  and  be  spent  for  you; 
though  the  more  abundantly  I  love  you,  the  less 
1  be  loved." 

The  exigencies  of  his  life  work  took  Paul  far  from 
this  church  of  his  "begetting**  and  the  children  of 


162  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

his  love.  Some  time  afterwards  along  came  the 
brilliant  and  captivating  orator  Apollos,  and  stopped 
at  Corinth.  He  had  powerful  letters  of  recommen- 
dation from  the  brethren  at  Ephesus.  The  church 
doors  swung  wide  to  receive  him,  he  spoke,  people 
were  charmed,  a  great  section  of  them  praised  him 
to  the  skies.  Before  this  they  had  regarded  Paul 
as  the  master-preacher.     Now  Paul  was  nowhere. 

But  some  were  still  loyal  to  their  former  pastor 
and  outspoken  in  his  defense.  A  storm  quickly 
brewed  and  burst  in  fury,  the  church  at  Corinth  was 
torn  into  warring  fragments.  Some  shouted  the 
name  of  Paul,  others  of  Apollos,  still  others  of 
Cephas,  and  yet  others,  turning  from  all  these  party 
cries,  shouted  the  name  of  Christ  making  that  holy 
name  itself  the  war  cry  of  a  faction.  Certain  ones 
of  the  Corinthians  of  the  household  of  Chloe  bore 
tidings  of  these  things  to  Paul  who  was  at  the  time 
laboring  at  Ephesus. 

Here  was  another  cause  for  arousing  his  jealousy 
of  this  popular  idol,  this  haloed  orator  Apollos.  So 
there  were  three  sufficient  reasons  for  jealousy  be- 
tween these  men,  any  one  of  which  by  itself  was 
enough  to  ruin  the  peace  of  the  most  generous 
friends. 

And  it  should  be  borne  in  mind  also  that  the  work 
at  Ephesus  was  at  that  very  moment  demanding  all 
Paul's  resources  of  mind  and  heart  and  strength. 
It  seemed  impossible  for  him  to  bear  the  strain  of 
anxiety  about  distant  Corinth.  A  less  consecrated 
man  would  have  been  undone  by  such  news  at  such 


APOLLOS  163 

a  time.  Jealousy  or  utter  discouragement  would 
have  infuriated  or  prostrated  a  moral  weakling. 
It  was  from  here  at  Ephesus  that  Paul  wrote  to  the 
distracted  church  at  Corinth  describing  what  at  that 
very  time  and  place  he  was  enduring.  Here  is  the 
story  in  his  own  words: — *'For  I  think  that  God 
hath  set  forth  us  the  Apostles  last,  as  it  were  ap- 
pointed to  death :  for  we  are  made  a  spectacle  unto 
the  world,  and  to  angels,  and  to  men.  .  .  .  Even 
unto  this  present  hour  we  both  hunger,  and  thirst, 
and  are  naked,  and  are  buffeted,  and  have  no  certain 
dwelling-place;  and  labor,  working  with  our  own 
hands:  being  reviled,  we  bless;  being  persecuted, 
we  suffer  it:  being  defamed,  we  entreat:  we  are 
made  as  the  filth  of  the  world,  and  are  the  off- 
scouring  of  all  things  unto  this  day."  And  later 
referring  to  this  period  he  wrote  in  his  second  letter 
to  Corinth — ''For  we  would  not,  brethren,  have  you 
ignorant  of  our  trouble  which  came  to  us  in  Asia, 
that  we  were  pressed  out  of  measure,  above  strength, 
insomuch  that  we  despaired  even  of  life."  All  this 
was  calculated  to  inflame  his  enmity  against  ApoUos 
who  was  the  cause,  or  one  of  the  causes,  of  the  out- 
break at  Corinth,  and  who  had  superseded  him  in 
the  affections  of  a  large  section  of  that  church. 

But  Paul  was  equal  to  the  moral  demands  of  the 
situation.  Let  us  examine  the  proof  and  sift  the 
evidence  to  the  bottom.  Our  characterization  of 
Apollos  in  the  title  to  this  sketch  may  seem  to  have 
prejudged  the  issue.  A  decision  and  judgment  may 
appear  to  have  been  pronounced  and  the  question 


164  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

closed.  If  so  let  ns  reopen  it,  let  us  assume  it  is 
not  settled,  let  us  hear  the  evidence  on  both  sides 
and  weigh  it  with  candor  and  open  mind. 

Ill 

The  Argument  That  Paul  Was  Jealous  of  Apollos 

There  are  several  passages  scattered  through 
Paul's  two  letters  to  the  Corinthian  church  which 
are  sometimes  cited  as  evidence  that  Paul  was 
jealous  of  Apollos  and  of  his  popularity  at  Corinth. 

Let  us  now  summon  these  before  us,  a  part  of 
which  have  already  been  quoted  once.  The  first  is 
this : — ' '  And  I,  brethren,  when  I  came  to  you,  came 
not  with  excellency  of  speech  or  of  wisdom,  declar- 
ing unto  you  the  testimony  of  God.  For  I  determined 
not  to  know  anything  among  you,  save  Jesus  Christ, 
and  him  crucified.  And  I  was  with  you  in  weakness, 
and  in  fear,  and  in  much  trembling.  And  my  speech 
and  my  preaching  was  not  with  enticing  words  of 
man's  wisdom,  but  in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit 
and  of  power:  that  your  faith  should  not  stand  in 
the  wisdom  of  men,  but  in  the  power  of  God. ' '  Here 
the  phrases  ''excellency  of  speech"  and  "enticing 
words  of  man's  wisdom,"  are  said  by  some  to  be  a 
slur  upon  the  gifts  of  Apollos;  and  the  claim  for 
himself  that  he  preached  "Christ  and  him  crucified 
.  .  in  demonstration  of  the  Spirit  and  of  power'* 
are  said  to  be  insinuations  that  his  rival  was  de- 
ficient in  the  more  valuable  elements  of  a  preacher 's 
equipment,  possessing  merely  the  showy  gifts  that 


APOLLOS  165 

dazzle  without   edifying.     All   this   is   declared   to 
reveal  a  spirit  of  jealousy. 

The  next  citation  in  proof  of  the  same  assertion 
is  this : — ' '  Need  we,  as  some  others,  epistles  of  com- 
mendation to  you,  or  letters  of  commendation  from 
you?"  This  again  is  quoted  as  a  slur  upon  Apollos 
who  went  to  Corinth  with  letters  of  commendation 
from  the  Ephesian  brethren. 

Still  another  statement  which,  it  is  urged,  betrays 
the  same  spirit,  is  where  Paul  proclaims  that  he 
does  not  "boast  in  another  man's  line  of  things 
made  ready  to  our  hand."  It  will  be  remembered 
that  Apollos  went  to  Corinth  after  Paul  had  founded 
the  church  with  incredible  labor  and  peril.  Farther 
passages  of  like  tenor  with  the  preceding  might  be 
recalled,  but  these  are  the  strongest  of  all.  "What 
shall  be  said  of  this  line  of  argument,  and  the  cita- 
tions upon  which  it  is  based?  Do  they  clearly  refer 
to  Apollos?  If  so,  can  we  reasonably  deny  the 
charge  that  Paul  was  at  times  bitterly  jealous?  The 
evidence  adduced  is  strong,  if  accepted  at  its  face 
value,  without  sifting  or  critical  examination.  The 
counter-evidence  must  be  not  only  equally  strong, 
but  overwhelming  and  conclusive.  Let  us  hear  the 
other  side. 

lY 
The  Proof  That  Paul  Was  Not  Jealous  of  Apollos 

We  shall  adduce  three  lines  of  argument  in  sup- 
port of  our  contention  that  Paul  was  never  jealous 
of  his  gifted  friend  Apollos. 


166  SAINT  PAUL'S  FEIENDSHIPS 

First,  we  will  examine  the  three  passages  quoted 
as  evidence  that  he  was.  As  to  the  first  of  the  three, 
we  frankly  admit,  as  has  already  been  done,  that 
Paul  was  sensitive  about  his  lack  of  oratorical 
graces,  and  deeply  pained  by  the  mocking  criticisms 
of  some  members  of  the  Corinthian  church.  But 
sensitiveness  over  one's  own  deficiencies  is  not  proof 
of  jealousy  of  another's  gifts.  Nor  can  the  pointing 
out  of  one's  own  powers  be  twisted  into  proof  that 
this  implies  a  lack  of  the  same  in  another  man. 
Much  less  can  this  be  done  in  the  case  in  hand^ 
for  in  the  preceding  chapter  Paul  has  unqualifiedly 
put  Apollos  in  the  same  category  with  himself  and 
St.  Peter.  When  we  come  to  Paul 's  reference  to  the 
fact  that  some  had  letters  of  commendation, 
although  this  was  true  in  the  case  of  Apollos,  it 
must  be  remembered  that  he  wrote  as  though  he 
had  several  persons  in  mind,  those  who  were  in 
great  need  of  such  commendation  to  give  them  any 
hearing  at  all.  Apollos  never  had  any  such  difficulty. 

As  to  the  last  passage  about  boasting  of  work 
which  another  man  had  started,  there  never  was  a 
man  freer  from  such  a  spirit  than  Apollos,  judging 
by  all  we  do  know  positively  about  the  man  and  his 
character.  In  addition  to  the  above  counter-argu- 
ment as  to  who  is  meant  in  these  passages,  it  is 
known  beyond  question  that  Paul  did  have  many 
personal  enemies  whose  characters  and  activities 
exactly  corresponded  to  the  requirements  of  the 
passages  under  examination.  Large  sections  of  his 
letters  to  Corinth,  especially  of  the  second,   refer 


APOLLOS  167 

beyond  dispute  to  those  adversaries,  and  in  the 
absence  of  strong  proof  to  the  contrary  the  only 
legitimate  way  to  interpret  passages  of  like  tenor 
is  in  line  with  the  clearly  known  facts.  It  is  incon- 
ceivable that  such  a  man  as  Paul  would  openly  laud 
and  covertly  stab  the  same  man  in  the  same  letter. 

Our  second  proof  that  Paul  was  never  jealous  of 
his  friend  Apollos  may  be  gathered  up  in  a  single 
negative  declaration, — In  all  that  he  ever  said  or 
did,  there  is  not  the  slightest  open  criticism  or  de- 
preciation of  Apollos  the  man,  or  of  his  gifts,  or  of 
his  services  to  Christianity.  Paul  did  not  hesitate  to 
speak  his  mind  freely  in  regard  to  Barnabas,  Mark, 
and  Peter,  when  he  held  them  blameworthy,  nor 
would  he  have  done  in  the  case  of  Apollos. 

We  now  come  to  our  third  line  of  proof  which  is 
positive  and  constructive:  first,  all  that  Paul  said 
in  praise  of  Apollos  and  his  gifts;  second,  an  exam- 
ination of  one  of  his  primary  purposes  in  writing 
1st  Corinthians;  and,  lastly,  a  significant  request 
that  he  made  of  Apollos. 

First,  then,  let  us  listen  to  the  high  praise  Paul 
bestowed  upon  his  friend,  and  his  gifts  and  services. 
*'For  while  one  saith,  I  am  of  Paul;  and  another,  I 
am  of  Apollos;  are  ye  not  carnal?  Who  then  is 
Paul,  and  who  is  Apollos,  but  ministers  by  whom 
ye  believed,  even  as  the  Lord  gave  to  every  man? 
I  have  planted,  Apollos  watered;  but  God  gave  the 
increase.  So  then  neither  is  he  that  planteth  any- 
thing, neither  he  that  watereth;  but  God  that  giveth 
the  increase.     Now  he  that  planteth  and  he  that 


168  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

watereth  are  one:  and  every  man  shall  receive  his 
own  reward  according  to  his  own  labor.  For  we  are 
laborers  together  with  God." 

Some  phrases  here  are  of  special  significance: 
Paul  and  Apollos  are  both  equally  "ministers  .  . 
by  whom  the  Corinthians  had  believed."  Paul  had 
"planted,"  Apollos  had  "watered," — a  service 
equally  necessary  and  equally  honorable  as  the  plant- 
ing. He  that  "planted"  and  he  that  "watered" 
were  "one," — one  in  honor,  one  in  usefulness,  one 
in  mutual  respect,  love,  and  unity.  They  were 
"laborers  together,"  no  differences,  jealousy,  or 
schism  between  them.  More  generous  words  Paul 
could  not  have  spoken  concerning  his  brilliant  friend 
and  co-worker.  Let  none,  then,  stand  up  and  accuse 
him  of  the  dastardly  duplicity  of  covertly  sneering 
at  a  man  whose  name  he  couples  with  his  own  in 
the  holiest  of  associations. 

The  next  positive  evidence  we  wish  to  cite  in 
proof  of  our  contention,  is  the  fact  that  one  of  the 
prime  motives  of  Paul  in  writing  1st  Corinthians  was 
to  allay  the  factional  strife  at  Corinth;  and  this  he 
strove  to  do  by  proving  to  the  church  that  there 
was  no  personal  antagonism  between  himself  and 
Apollos,  but  that  their  work  at  Corinth  was  equal 
in  importance  and  honor;  and  that  between  them 
were  the  closest  ties  of  mutual  respect  and  affection. 

Our  last  evidence  is  a  statement  of  Paul's  in  the 
latter  part  of  his  first  letter  to  the  Corinthians, — 
"As  touching  our  brother  Apollos,  I  greatly  desired 
him  to  come  unto  you  with  the  brethren:  but  his 


APOLLOS  169 

will  was  not  at  all  to  come  at  this  time;  but  he 
will  come  when  he  shall  have  convenient  time.'^ 
Notice  the  words  "our  brother  ApoUos."  Now  at 
first  glance  this  whole  passage  is  seemingly  but  a 
commonplace  statement  of  slight  and  merely  tem- 
porary significance :  but  in  reality  it  is  an  illuminat- 
ing revelation  not  only  of  the  ties  existing  between 
the  two,  but  also  of  Paul's  estimate  of  Apollos  and 
of  the  latter 's  innermost  character  and  lofty  prin- 
ciples. 

The  situation  at  Corinth  was,  in  brief,  this: 
Grievous  immorality  among  professed  Christians  and 
factional  strife  in  the  church,  which  two  things 
threatened  its  very  life.  Paul  was  at  Ephesus  unable 
to  go  to  Corinth,  or  deemed  it  inadvisable  that  he 
should  do  so.  He  had  already  dispatched  one  or 
two  letters,  but  these  had  failed  to  alleviate  the 
crisis.  He  had  requested  Timothy  to  visit  the 
church:  but  either  he  had  not  yet  arrived,  or  Paul 
expected  small  results  from  his  efforts.  Apollos  had 
now  returned  to  Ephesus  or  was  near  and  in  close 
touch  with  Paul.  Unintentionally  his  mission  at 
Corinth  was  one  of  the  prime,  if  not  indeed  the 
original,  cause  of  the  factional  outbreak  there,  and 
of  the  subsequent  heartless  disparagement  of  Paul 
and  his  gifts. 

In  view  of  all  these  considerations,  had  Paul  been 
jealous  the  last  thing  he  would  have  desired  would 
have  been  the  return  of  Apollos  to  Corinth,  lest  his 
presence  there  without  any  effort  on  his  part  should 
increase  his  own  popularity  and  Paul's  unpopular- 


170  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

ity,  and  so  the  schism  in  the  church  be  made  worse 
than  it  was  already.  A  jealous  man  would  have 
feared  this  result  however  innocent  ApoUos  might 
be  of  any  attempt  to  bring  it  about.  A  suspicious 
man  would  have  expected  Apollos  to  foment  dis- 
cord.  But  Paul's  love  for  his  friend  and  admira- 
tion of  his  gifts  prompted  him  to  urge  Apollos 
to  hurry  back  to  Corinth  believing  he  was  the  very 
man  to  settle  all  difficulties.  What  a  tribute  is  this 
to  Paul 's  faith  in  the  personal  honor  of  Apollos,  and 
also  to  his  confidence  in  his  ability  and  tact  to 
achieve  successfully  such  a  delicate  mission.  And 
what  a  scorching  rebuke  is  here  to  every  suspicion 
of  any  unworthy  sentiments  on  the  part  of  Paul. 
And  such  a  request  must  have  been  cheering  to 
Apollos  to  know  that  his  friend  scorned  to  believe 
any  of  the  ugly  rumors  emanating  from  Corinth, 
that  he  had  been  a  willing  party  to  the  undermining 
of  Paul's  popularity  there. 

But  Apollos  declined  the  mission.  Apparently  he 
did  not  deem  it  an  expedient  time  for  him  to  appear 
at  Corinth  just  then  when  matters  were  at  such  a 
critical  turn.  He  foresaw  the  possible  danger  his 
presence  would  cause  to  the  peace  of  the  church, 
owing  to  a  probable  outbreak  on  the  part  of  some  of 
his  fanatical  admirers;  and  so  for  the  sake  of  the 
peace  of  the  church,  and  out  of  consideration  and 
courtesy  toward  his  friend  Paul,  he  would  not  be 
even  the  innocent  occasion  of  farther  humiliation 
to  him.  He  cherished  the  well-being  of  the  church 
and  the  feelings  of  Paul  as  of  more  value  than  any 


APOLLOS  171 

personal  triumph  and  glorification.  This  is  an  at- 
tractive revelation  of  the  character  of  that  high- 
minded  gentleman,  the  eloquent  orator  ApoUos. 
Surely  vanity  had  no  place  in  his  makeup.  In 
reviewing  this  incident,  so  pregnant  with  latent 
significance,  I  scarcely  know  which  man  to  admire 
most.  In  fact  there  is  no  choice  between  them,  the 
conduct  of  each  was  high  beyond  either  criticism  or 
praise. 

So,  then,  the  world  has  been  enriched  by  at  least 
one  friend,  yes,  two,  whose  souls  were  never  scarred 
by  the  footprint  of  that  hateful  monster — jealousy. 
Paul  was  ever  utterly  selfless  in  his  admiration  of 
the  powers  of  his  friends;  and  was  always  pushing 
them  forward  into  new  fields  of  opportunity,  useful- 
ness, and  honor.  His  master  passion  was  Jesus 
Christ  and  his  kingdom;  if  others  could  do  more  in 
certain  places  or  along  certain  lines,  his  heart  re- 
joiced that  God  had  given  such  gifts  unto  men. 
Like  Moses  of  old  he  was  ever  ready  to  exclaim: — 
**Enviest  thou  for  my  sake?  Would  God  that 
all  the  Lord's  people  were  prophets  and  that  the 
Lord  would  put  his  spirit  upon  them." 

V 

What  These  Two  Friends  Owed  Each  Other 

What  Paul  and  Apollos  owed  each  other  in  the 
delights  of  friendship  and  the  joy  of  intellectual 
fellowship,  we  can  never  fathom.  What  they  owed 
each  other  in  the  service  of  Christ,  while  we  can 


172  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

never  fully  measure  it,  yet  we  can,  at  least,  indicate 
some  of  the  lines  of  their  mutual  helpfulness. 

In  the  first  place,  ApoUos  indirectly  owed  to  Paul 
his  knowledge  of  the  baptism  and  power  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  whereby  he  thrilled  and  convinced  sceptical 
Greece  with  the  sweep  and  majesty  of  an  eloquence 
such  as  her  classic  lands  had  never  heard.  It  was 
first  at  Ephesus  directly  from  Aquila  and  Priscilla 
that  he  gained  knowledge  of  and  access  to  this  new 
power ;  but  it  will  be  remembered  that  these  humble 
folk  had  been  enlisted  in  the  Lord's  work  by  Paul 
at  Corinth ;  and  it  was  he  who  had  brought  them  to 
Ephesus  and  there  left  them  to  found  a  Christian 
community,  while  he  hastened  on  to  Antioch  and 
Jerusalem.  So  Apollos  owed  the  highest  reaches  of 
his  lofty  eloquence  to  the  work  which  Paul  had 
wrought  in  the  lives  of  his  hosts  of  Corinth. 

Paul  also  owed  much  to  Apollos.  It  was  Apollos 's 
splendid  ''watering"  of  what  he  had  "planted'^ 
that  left  the  latter  free  to  reside  at  Ephesus  for  so 
many  years,  and  found  and  build  up  churches  in 
all  western  Asia  Minor.  After  Apollos 's  mission  to 
Greece  was  completed,  he  appears  to  have  returned 
to  Ephesus  and  there  labored  with  Paul  for  some 
time  in  that  great  city. 

That  these  friends  never  lost  track  of  each  other 
is  proved  by  Paul's  request  in  his  letter  to  Titus 
written  years  afterwards  near  the  end  of  his  life. 
The  reference  is  as  follows: — "Bring  Zenas  the  law- 
yer and  Apollos  on  their  journey  diligently,  that 
nothing  be  wanting  unto  them." 


APOLLOS  173 

It  is  the  opinion  of  some  scholars  that  Apollos  had 
just  been  in  conference  with  Paul  somewhere  in 
Greece,  and  that  he  and  Zenas  were  the  bearers  of 
the  letter  to  Titus  who  was  then  in  Crete.  It  is 
farther  believed  that  the  two  men,  Zenas  and 
Apollos,  were  on  some  kind  of  a  mission  under  the 
direction  of  Paul.  Possibly  they  were  going  to  the 
East  to  secure  legal  evidence  in  his  behalf  for  his 
second  trial  at  Rome  which  was  already  foreseen. 

It  is  also  believed  by  some  that  upon  Paul's  re- 
arrest Apollos  at  once  joined  him  in  Rome ;  but  this 
is  uncertain.  Be  that  as  it  may,  in  our  last  glimpse 
of  Apollos  we  find  him  still  in  touch  with  Paul,  the 
two  still  laboring  in  harmony  for  the  advancement 
and  glory  of  the  kingdom  of  their  common  Lord  and 
Master ;  and  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  they  had  been 
thus  constantly  in  close  intercourse  ever  since  they 
labored  together  at  Ephesus. 

Tradition  affirms  that  Apollos  spent  his  later  years 
as  Bishop  of  Corinth.  Whether  this  is  so  or  not.  of 
one  thing  we  may  be  certain,  that  his  eloquent 
tongue  was  never  silent  until  his  brow  received  the 
crown,  and  that  wherever  he  told  the  gospel  story 
there  Paul  though  dead  was  yet  speaking. 


CHAPTER  IX 

Titus — The  Most  Efficient  of  PauVs  Friends 


The  record  of  Titus's  career  is  found  in  the  fol- 
lowing passage:— 2nd  Cor.  2:12-13,  7:5-17,  8:1-24, 
12:18,  Gal.  2:1-4,  2nd  Tim.  4:10,  and  all  of  Paul's 
epistle  to  him. 


OUR  characterization  of  Titus  will  in  all 
likelihood  arouse  strenuous  dissent.  The 
names  and  services  of  Luke,  Timothy, 
Barnabas  and  others,  will  at  once  come 
to  mind,  and  it  will  be  said  "surely  Titus  was 
inferior  to  any  and  all  of  these."  It  may  even  be 
slightingly  asked — ''Who  was  Titus  anyway?" 

By  casual  reading  of  the  New  Testament  it  must 
be  confessed  that  his  name,  personality,  and  work, 
might  not  attract  and  fix  the  attention.  It  would 
be  recalled  that  Paul  addressed  a  letter  to  him,  and 
perhaps  also  the  farther  fact  that  he  left  him  in 
Crete  on  some  sort  of  a  mission.  Beyond  this  little 
would  be  remembered  by  any  except  the  more  diligent 
students  of  Paul's  life  and  the  New  Testament  as  a 
whole.  But  to  have  it  asserted  that  Titus  was  one 
of  the  most  efficient  men  of  the  early  church  will, 
perhaps,  surprise  even  those  who  are  fairly  conver- 
sant with  his  career. 

174 


TITUS  175 

By  the  word  "efficient"  as  used  in  this  sketch,  we 
mean  as  an  achiever  of  immediate  practical  results 
in  difficult  situations.  Not  for  a  moment  is  he  to  be 
compared  with  Barnabas  and  ApoUos  as  a  preacher; 
nor  was  he  a  writer  like  Luke  and  Mark.  But  he 
was  a  man  who  could  do  things  at  any  time  and  any- 
where; and  whenever  Paul  had  a  task  too  difficult 
for  any  of  his  other  friends,  he  always  turned  to 
Titus,  and  Titus  never  refused  and  never  failed. 

I 

Who  Then  Was  Titus  f 

Of  the  man  himself  we  know  very  little.  Of  his 
birthplace  and  early  life,  we  know  nothing.  We  do 
not  know  when  or  where  he  first  met  St.  Paul,  nor 
what  their  earlier  associations  were.  The  scantiness 
of  our  knowledge  is  due  largely  to  the  fact  that 
Luke  never  once  mentions  his  name  in  the  entire 
book  of  Acts,  though  during  the  period  covered  by 
this  narrative  Titus  was  rendering  indispensable 
services  in  behalf  of  Paul  and  for  the  good  of  the 
early  church. 

"Why  Luke  totally  ignored  the  great  part  played 
by  Titus  in  those  stirring  days  and  scenes,  we  are 
left  entirely  in  the  dark;  but  it  is  safe  to  say  he  had 
some  reason  which  appeared  ample  to  himself.  Is  it 
possible  to  conjecture  what  his  reasons  were?  I 
think  it  may  be  safely  done.  One  conjecture  is  that 
as  Titus's  most  eminent  service  at  that  time  was  in 
healing  a  frightful  breach  in  one  of  the  greatest  of 
the  churches,  Luke  ignored  the  entire  story  as  the 


176  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

struggle  was  over  some  years  before  he  wrote 
Acts,  and  hence  he  did  not  wish  to  recall  painful 
memories  by  even  so  much  as  an  allusion  to  them. 
Therefore  he  did  not  refer  to  Titus  at  all  as  this 
would  hardly  have  been  possible  without  telling 
something  about  his  work  in  settling  a  quarrel  now 
long  a  thing  of  the  past.  Another  reason  why  he 
may  not  have  mentioned  Titus  is,  possibly,  because 
the  latter 's  work  did  not  seem  to  him  to  contribute 
as  directly  as  that  of  some  of  Paul's  other  friends 
in  hastening  the  onward  sweep  of  Christianity  from 
Jerusalem  to  Rome,  the  story  of  which,  as  we  have 
seen,  is  the  theme  of  the  book  of  Acts. 

A  few  definite  details  are,  however,  known  in 
regard  to  Titus  the  man.  First  of  all  we  know  that 
he  was  a  Greek,  Paul  so  stating  in  his  letter  to  the 
Galatians.  And  farther  we  know  that  he  was  con- 
verted through  the  direct  influence  of  Paul  himself, 
for  the  latter  addresses  his  letter  to  him  as  "his 
own  son  after  the  common  faith."  Perhaps  it  is 
fair  to  assume  that  Titus's  conversion  took  place  at 
Antioch,  and  that  he  was  a  part  of  the  fruit  of 
Paul's  labors  there.  At  any  rate  we  first  hear  of 
him  in  association  with  Paul  in  that  city  when  the 
latter,  some  fourteen  years  after  his  own  conversion, 
went  up  to  Jerusalem  with  Barnabas  to  consult  the 
leading  Apostles  in  regard  to  the  question  of  cir- 
cumcision of  Gentile  converts.  On  this  journey  Paul 
took  Titus  with  him.  This  visit  to  Jerusalem  was 
after  Paul's  first  missionary  journey,  and  may  or 
may  not  be  identical  with  that  one  related  in  Acts 


TITUS  177 

15.  It  is  conjectured  by  some  that  Titus  was  with 
Paul  and  Barnabas  on  their  missionary  journey 
together;  and  that  it  was  from  Titus  that  Luke 
gained  most  of  his  information  about  the  move- 
ments of  St.  Paul  during  those  periods  when  he 
himself  was  not  with  him.  All  this  is  very  possible, 
but  by  no  means  capable  of  any  proof. 

After  Titus's  journey  to  Jerusalem  with  Paul, 
Barnabas  and  others,  we  entirely  lose  sight  of  him 
for  several  years;  but  it  is  likely  that  he  was  with 
Paul  all  the  time,  or  laboring  somewhere  under  his 
supervision.  We  next  find  him  for  a  certainty  with 
Paul  on  the  latter 's  third  missionary  journey;  and 
from  a  comparison  of  Acts  with  Paul's  letters  to 
Corinth,  we  know  that  he  was  with  Paul  at  least 
part  of  the  time  during  his  ministry  at  Ephesus 
when  all  the  province  of  Asia  was  evangelized  by 
him  and  his  friends.  The  evidence  of  this  is  that  it 
was  from  Ephesus  that  Paul  sent  him  on  his  most 
difficult  missions. 

II 

The  Proof  of  Titus's  Efficiency 

The  best  proof  of  Titus's  efficiency  is  a  simple 
recital  of  the  services  he  performed. 

While  Paul  was  at  Ephesus  he  received  the  dis- 
astrous reports  of  affairs  at  Corinth.  Things  were 
at  a  crisis  and  demanded  immediate  and  tactful,  yet 
at  the  same  time  the  most  masterful,  handling,  or 
all  Paul's  work  there  would  be  wrecked  and  the 
church  and  cause  of  Christ  go  down  in  irretrievable 


178  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

ruin.  We  need  not  here  go  into  the  details  of  the 
situation  at  Corinth.  Its  evils  may  be  roughly 
summed  up  under  a  few  general  heads :  the  lax 
morals  of  the  members  of  the  church ;  fierce  factional 
broils ;  confusion  in  public  worship  and  drunkenness 
at  the  communion  table;  and  the  lending  of  greedy 
ears  to  the  malicious  enemies  of  Paul  himself  who 
denounced  him,  his  message,  and  his  Apostolic 
standing. 

How  could  such  a  situation  be  met?  Paul  begged 
Apollos  to  go  to  Corinth  and  try  his  hand  in  com- 
posing the  difficulties.  Apollos  declined  for  reasons 
we  have  already  examined.  Paul  was  nearly  des- 
perate. He  feared  to  go  himself  lest  his  presence 
make  matters  worse.  He  then,  for  some  reason, 
dispatched  Timothy;  but  fearful  of  his  ability  to 
cope  with  the  situation  he  wrote  to  the  Corinthians 
pleading  with  them  to  give  Timothy  a  favorable  re- 
ception. Now  either  he  failed  in  his  mission,  or  else 
Paul,  growing  more  and  more  distrustful  of  his 
ability  to  accomplish  anything,  recalled  him  before 
he  even  reached  the  scene  of  disturbance.  Matters 
at  Corinth  were  going  from  bad  to  worse  every 
hour.  There  was  but  one  thing  left  to  do — send 
Titus.  Neither  Timothy,  nor  Apollos,  nor  even  Paul 
himself,  was  the  man  for  such  a  crisis  as  the  troubles 
at  Corinth  had  now  reached. 

It  is  likely  that  Titus  had  already  been  there 
sometime  previously,  possibly  he  was  the  bearer  of 
1st  Corinthians ;  and  it  may  have  been  his  report  on 
the  condition  of  things  there  that  suggested  to  Paul 


TITUS  179 

that  of  all  men  he  was  the  one  to  solve  the  problems 
now  confronting  him  and  rending  the  church  to 
destruction.  At  any  rate  such  was  the  course  Paul 
took  and  he  never  judged  a  man  more  accurately 
nor  confronted  a  situation  more  masterfully. 

Titus,  therefore,  was  sent  from  Ephesus  to  Cor- 
inth. He  went  with  verbal  instructions  and  also 
bore  a  letter  of  scathing  rebuke.  That  particular 
letter,  now  lost,  is  referred  to  in  2nd  Cor.  7 :  8.  With 
Titus  went  a  "brother,"  but  he  was  a  negligible 
factor  compared  to  Titus,  not  even  his  name  being 
given  in  this  connection  though  Paul  declares  him 
to  have  been  w^ell  known. 

So  great  was  Paul's  anxiety  over  Titus's  mission 
that  he  became  too  restless  to  remain  at  Ephesus, 
so  hastened  on  to  Troas  hoping  to  intercept  Titus 
there  on  his  return  journey.  But  some  way  they 
failed  to  meet.  Paul's  anxiety  now  became  almost 
too  heavy  to  be  borne,  and  it  proved  impossible 
for  him  to  restrain  his  impatience  despite  the  splen- 
did opportunity  to  preach  which  now  opened  to 
him  in  Troas. 

His  own  words  give  a  graphic  picture  of  the  ter- 
rible strain  of  those  days.  Here  they  are: — "Fur- 
thermore, when  I  came  to  Troas  to  preach  Christ's 
Gospel,  and  a  door  was  opened  unto  me  of  the 
Lord,  I  found  no  rest  in  my  spirit,  because  I  found 
not  Titus  my  brother ;  but  taking  my  leave  of  them, 
I  went  from  thence  into  Macedonia."  Somewhere 
there,  possibly  at  Philippi,  Titus  at  last  reached  his 
side  with  the  story  of  the  complete  success  of  his 


180  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

difficult  mission.  Paul  was  almost  overwhelmed  with 
the  joyful  release  from  his  crushing  load.  We  can- 
not do  better  than  let  him  tell  in  his  own  words  how 
he  was  affected  by  the  glad  tidings  Titus  brought. 
**I  am  filled  with  comfort,  I  am  exceeding  joyful  in 
all  our  tribulation.  For,  when  we  were  come  into 
Macedonia,  our  flesh  had  no  rest,  but  we  were 
troubled  on  every  side;  without  were  fightings, 
within  were  fears.  Nevertheless  God,  that  com- 
forteth  those  that  are  cast  down,  comforted  us  by 
the  coming  of  Titus;  and  not  by  his  coming  only, 
but  by  the  consolation  wherewith  he  was  comforted 
in  you,  when  he  told  us  your  earnest  desire,  your 
mourning,  your  fervent  mind  toward  me;  so  that  I 
rejoiced  the  more  .  .  .  Therefore  we  were 
comforted  in  your  comfort :  yea,  and  exceedingly  the 
more  joyed  we  for  the  joy  of  Titus,  because  his 
spirit  was  refreshed  by  you  all  .  .  .  And  his 
inward  affection  is  more  abundant  toward  you, 
whilst  he  remembereth  the  obedience  of  you  all, 
how  with  fear  and  trembling  ye  received  him.  I 
rejoice  therefore  that  I  have  confidence  in  you  in  all 
things. ' ' 

Immediately  after  this  Paul  sat  down  and  wrote 
2nd  Corinthians  and  sent  it  back  to  the  church  by 
Titus  who  had  already  eagerly  volunteered  to  return 
that  he  might  farther  the  work  of  gathering  an 
offering  from  them  for  the  poor  of  Jerusalem.  This 
work  he  had  already  begun  on  his  previous  visit, 
and  Paul  was  now  most  solicitous  for  its  success. 

The  troubles   at  Corinth  never  reappeared  in  a 


TITUS  181 

dangerous  form.  Titus  had  settled  them  for  all 
time.  A  task  which  Timothy  was  unequal  to,  a  task 
which  neither  Paul  nor  Apollos  deemed  himself  the 
right  man  to  grapple  with,  Titus  quickly  accom- 
plished. Paul  speaks  of  Titus's  '' abundant  inward 
affection"  for  the  Corinthians.  This  must  have 
been,  in  part,  the  secret  of  his  success.  But  it  was 
not  all.  He  was  evidently  one  born  to  command,  a 
man  of  imposing  personality,  one  whose  presence 
overawed  opposition  and  silenced  faction.  The 
Corinthians,  as  we  learn  from  Paul's  letters,  ridi- 
culed his  own  person,  made  light  of  his  deficiencies 
as  a  speaker,  defied  his  authority,  and  scoffed  at  his 
messages.  But  Titus  was  unafraid.  He  met  these 
insolent  braggarts  face  to  face,  and  they,  not  he, 
were  cowed.  And  Paul  comments,  possibly  with 
some  degree  of  satisfaction,  ''how  with  fear  and 
trembling  they  received  Titus." 

The  next  recorded  service  of  this  skilled  diplomat 
was  rendered  some  years  later,  how  many,  it  is  im- 
possible to  determine;  nor  have  we  any  reference 
to  his  whereabouts  during  the  intervening  period; 
but  it  is  safe  to  say  that  Paul  did  not  permit  to 
remain  idle  one  who  had  such  ability  as  he  had 
manifested  at  Corinth. 

The  second  great  service  of  Titus  was  performed 
in  the  island  of  Crete.  There  is  no  data  by  which 
it  can  be  definitely  settled  when  he  labored  there. 
Some  believe  it  to  have  followed  immediately  after 
Paul's  touching  there  with  his  shipmates  when  he 
was  being  conveyed  a  prisoner  to  Rome  as  recorded 


182  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

in  Acts  27.  In  this  case  the  letter  to  Titus  may- 
have  been  written  from  Rome.  All  this  however 
seems  to  me  exceedingly  improbable  in  view  of  the 
fact  that  Paul  told  Titus  he  intended  to  winter  at 
Nicopolis  and  requested  him  to  join  him  there. 

The  other  view  of  the  letter  and  the  situation 
implied,  is  that  Paul  was  released  from  a  first  im- 
prisonment in  Rome  and  subsequently  he  and  Titus 
went  on  a  mission  to  Crete;  and  that  the  letter  to 
Titus  was  written  at  Nicopolis,  or  as  Paul  was 
drawing  near  that  city.  I  accept  this  view ;  but  for 
our  purposes  it  does  not  matter  in  the  least  when 
the  mission  took  place,  or  whence  the  letter  was 
written.  Our  interest  is  confined  to  the  added  in- 
formation given  us  concerning  Titus  and  his  effi- 
ciency, and  this  is  the  same  in  any  case. 

There  are  four  things  in  connection  with  the  joint 
work  of  Paul  and  Titus  in  Crete  and  the  letter  which 
passed  between  them,  which  emphasize  the  latter 's 
efficiency  as  a  man  of  practical  achievements.  The 
first  is  that,  as  far  as  we  have  any  record,  the 
last  missionary  work  done  by  Paul  when  he  was  at 
liberty  in  his  movements,  was  here  in  Crete;  and 
that  of  all  his  score  and  more  of  close  friends  and 
able  fellow  workers,  he  chose  Titus  alone  to  share 
his  arduous  campaign  in  that  island. 

In  the  second  place,  when  the  work  was  but  fairly 
begun  Paul  withdrew  and  left  Titus  to  cope  single- 
handed  with  the  desperate  condition  of  the  Cretan 
churches;  and  he  did  so  without  any  misgivings  as 
to  the  final  issue  under  Titus 's  masterful  supervision. 


TITUS  183 

The  situation  of  affairs  in  the  island  may  be  summed 
up  in  a  few  words :  almost  total  lack  of  organization 
and  church  officers;  rank  insubordination  of  mem- 
bers ;  shockingly  low  morals,  and  heretical  teachings. 
With  such  a  situation  Paul  directed  Titus  to  grapple, 
having  full  faith  that  he  was  capable  of  proving 
himself  master. 

The  third  evidence  of  Titus's  efficiency  is  to  be 
gathered  from  the  general  tone  of  Paul's  letter  to 
him.  When,  on  a  former  occasion,  Paul  left  Timothy 
to  meet  a  somewhat  analogous  condition  of  affairs 
in  the  single  city  of  Ephesus,  his  entire  letter  to 
him  breathed  a  spirit  of  foreboding  solicitude  as 
though  he  were  fearful  that  he  would  prove  inade- 
quate to  the  demands  of  his  position.  On  the  other 
hand,  in  the  case  of  Titus,  though  Paul  left  him  to 
settle  matters  in  an  entire  island,  he  manifested  no 
fear  as  to  his  competency — a  clear  proof  of  his 
different  estimates  of  the  two  men,  however  tender 
his  affection  for  Timothy  may  have  been. 

The  fourth  and  last  evidence  we  shall  adduce 
concerning  Paul's  high  estimate  of  Titus *s  efficiency, 
is  the  fact  that  he  directed  the  latter  to  join  him  at 
Nicopolis  as  soon  as  he  had  so  far  settled  matters 
in  Crete  that  some  other  man — Artemas  or  Tychicus 
— would  be  able  to  carry  them  on  successfully. 

That  Titus  fully  met  Paul's  expectations  here  as 
at  Corinth  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  a  little  later 
we  find  he  had  left  Crete  and  was  on  a  final  mission, 
again  under  Paul's  direction,  in  far  Dalmatia.  This 
we  learn  from  Paul 's  last  letter  to  Timothy.    It  may 


184  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

be  that  Titus  was  sent  thither  from  Nicopolis  where 
he  joined  Paul  in  accordance  with  the  latter 's  direc- 
tions after  the  work  in  Crete  was  so  far  completed 
as  to  permit  its  being  carried  on  by  others.  If 
Nicopolis  was  not  the  place  whence  he  was  sent  to 
Dalmatia,  then  it  is  likely  he  visited  Paul  in  Eome 
and  went  from  there.  The  province  of  Dalmatia 
was  situated  in  the  southern  part  of  Illyricum.  A 
reference  to  the  latter  is  made  in  Paul's  letter  to 
the  Romans,  written  from  Corinth,  where  he  declared 
''he  had  no  more  place  in  those  parts,  having  fully 
preached  the  gospel  of  Christ  from  Jerusalem,  and 
round  about  unto  Illyricum."  Hence  it  may  well 
be  that  Titus  was  with  him  in  that  mission — of  which 
we  have  no  information  save  the  above — and  that 
in  after  days  some  crisis  arose  there,  as  at  Corinth 
and  in  Crete,  and  so  again  Paul  sent  his  strong 
man  to   meet   it. 

Ill 
Paul's  Love  for  Titus  and  Ardent  Praise  of  the  Man 

Of  Paul's  estimate  of  Titus's  ability  nothing 
farther  need  be  said,  his  actions  speak  louder  than 
any  words  could.  Of  his  affection  for  him,  his  de- 
light in  his  companionship,  and  his  admiration  for 
the  man, — a  few  words  may  be  added. 

Perhaps  Titus,  next  to  Timothy,  was  closest  to  the 
great  Apostle's  heart.  He  calls  him  his  "own  son;" 
he  tells  us  that  at  Troas  he  had  no  rest  for  his 
spirit,  because  he  found  not  Titus  ''his  brother;" 
in  Macedonia  he  was  "comforted  by  the  coming  of 


TITUS  185 

Titus;"  and  *' exceedingly  more  he  joyed  for  the 
joy  of  Titus"  because  the  latter 's  spirit  had  been 
refreshed  by  the  Corinthians;  he  thanked  God  that 
Titus  "had  earnest  care  in  his  heart"  for  them,  and 
of  ''his  own  accord  went  unto  them;"  if  any  in- 
quired of  Titus,  he  was  his  "partner  and  fellow 
helper."  Of  course  part  of  all  this  anxiety  and 
joy  centered  itself  in  the  condition  and  welfare  of 
the  Corinthian  Christians;  but  there  is  also  a  per- 
sonal tenderness  in  every  reference  to  Titus's  name 
which  shows  how  dearly  Paul  loved  him. 

IV 

What  Paid  and  Titus  Owed  Each  Other  In  Christian 
Service 

To  Paul  Titus  owed  his  conversion  to  Christ;  and 
to  Paul's  direction  he  committed  all  the  powers  of 
his  redeemed  soul  and  consecrated  talent.  From 
first  to  last  we  find  him  in  Paul's  company  or 
executing  Paul's  commissions. 

But  the  debt  between  these  friends  was  a  recipro- 
cal one.  For  long  years  through  Titus  Paul  was 
enabled  to  multiply  his  own  presence,  personality, 
and  power;  and  after  his  death  he  had  in  Titus  a 
man  abundantly  capable  of  prolonging  his  life  mis- 
sion to  the  world.  This  ability  had  already  been 
amply  proved  in  far  sundered  fields  and  in  most 
critical  juncture  of  affairs,  where  he  had  been  com- 
pelled to  act  independently  of  his  leader's  presence, 
either  alone  or  with  subordinate  assistants. 


186  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

When  Paul,  the  General-in-Chief  of  all  Christen- 
dom, at  last  had  to  lay  down  the  insignia  of  supreme 
authority,  here  was  one  of  his  Field  Marshals  who 
was  capable  of  commanding  any  army  on  any  field. 


CHAPTER  X 
Aristarchus — PauVs  Friend  Who  Was  But  His  Friend 


The  story  of  Aristarchus  ^s  career  is  contained  in 
the  following  passages :— Acts  19 :29,  20 :4-5,  27  :l-2, 
€ol.  4:10,  Philemon  1:24. 


TO  many  readers  of  the  New  Testament 
Aristarchus  is  but  a  name  and  nothing 
more;  to  others  he  is  not  even  a  name. 
If  we  begin  by  describing  him  nega- 
tively, it  will  seem  before  we  are  through  that  there 
is  nothing  more  left  to  say;  in  short,  that  he  is  an 
unimportant  and  insignificant  figure.  But  such  a 
judgment  would  be  wide  of  the  facts.  However,  let 
us  hear  the  negatives  first. 

I 

What  Aristarchus  Was  Not  and  What  He  Did  Not  Do 

In  all  the  New  Testament  there  is  no  reference 
to  any  church  founded  by  Aristarchus,  nor  to  any 
mission  undertaken,  nor  of  any  journey  on  which  he 
was  sent  as  messenger  or  agent.  There  is  no  record 
of  any  sermon  preached,  nor  of  any  convert  won. 
Once,  and  once  only,  is  there  so  much  as  an  allusion 
to  the  fact  that  he  ever  rendered  any  direct  service 

187 


188  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

to  Christianity;  and  in  that  exceptional  instance, 
nothing  is  said  as  to  what  the  service  was.  His  life 
story  is  the  story  of  a  friend  who  was  but  a  friend. 
About  all  we  know  of  him  is  that  from  the  beginning- 
to  the  end  of  his  career  he  was  a  friend  of  Paul's 
of  whom  it  might  be  said  "he  stuck  closer  than  a 
brother. ' ' 

In  distinction  from  all  Paul's  other  friends,  Aris- 
tarchus  appears  to  have  been  so  completely  absorbed 
in  devotion  to  Paul's  person  and  companionship  as 
to  have  no  time  or  place  for  service  to  the  church 
at  large.  This  is  not  said  to  his  depreciation.  Of 
such  as  he  had,  gave  he  unto  the  world;  and  that 
which  was  committed  unto  him,  was  a  measureless 
devotion  to  the  great  Apostle,  especially  during  the 
final  terrible  years  and  experiences  through  which 
he  had  to  pass. 

Of  the  general  ability  of  Aristarchus  we  have  no 
direct  means  of  judging;  but  the  fact  that  no  con- 
spicuous service  was  entrusted  to  him,  leads  to  the 
conclusion  that  his  talents  were  in  no  wise  remark- 
able ;  and  yet  his  career  exhibits  some  of  the  nobler 
virtues  of  character  in  what  I  may  call,  without 
exaggeration,  their  supreme  degree. 

II 

Who    Then    Was   Aristarchus   and    What    Was   His 
Relation  to  St.  Paul? 

Aristarchus  was  a  Macedonian  by  race,  a  native  of 
the  city  of  Thessalonica.  He  was  probably  con- 
verted by  Paul  during  his  first  visit  to  that  city. 


ARISTARCHUS  189 

At  that  time  persecution  against  the  Apostle  was  so 
bitter  that  he  was  speedily  driven  from  the  city. 
At  Berea  his  party  were  received  so  much  more 
hospitably  that  they  contrasted  their  treatment  at 
the  two  places  greatly  to  the  disparagement  of  the 
former.  Had  Paul  been  inclined  to  be  discouraged 
over  his  expulsion  from  Thessalonica,  or  felt  that 
his  work  there  had  been  a  complete  failure,  yet  even 
if  no  splendid  church  had  afterwards  arisen  as  a 
result  of  his  labors,  the  winning  of  such  a  convert 
as  Aristarchus  would  alone  have  repaid  him  for  all 
he  suffered. 

Every  mention  of  Aristarchus  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment presents  him  to  us  as  the  friend  and  personal 
attendant  of  St.  Paul.  When  he  forsook  all  and 
followed  him,  we  do  not  know ;  but  in  all  likelihood 
it  was  directly  after  his  conversion,  which  must 
have  taken  place  on  Paul's  second  missionary  jour- 
ney. Our  ground  for  believing  he  joined  Paul  at 
once  is  the  fact  that  when  he  is  first  mentioned  he 
is  with  him  at  the  period  of  his  three  years'  stay  at 
Ephesus.  Now  this  took  place  on  Paul's  third  mis- 
sionary journej^  and  before  he  had  made  his  second 
trip  through  Macedonia  and  Greece;  and  Aristar- 
chus is  in  this  connection  already  spoken  of  as 
** Paul's  companion  in  travel."  Therefore  as  Paul 
had  been  for  some  time  settled  down  in  his  Ephesian 
pastorate,  Aristarchus 's  traveling  with  him  must 
have  preceded  this.  Hence  we  conclude  he  had 
alread}^  been  some  j^ears  with  Paul  and  must  have 
joined  him  at   once   after  his   conversion,   or   very 


190  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

shortly  thereafter.  Never  is  he  mentioned  apart 
from  Paul  to  whose  companionship  he  dedicated  his 
life. 

Here  at  Ephesus  Aristarchns  manifested  the  su- 
preme devotion  of  a  friend.  Demetrius,  the  silver- 
smith, by  persuasive  and  alarming  eloquence^ 
aroused  a  bloodthirsty  mob  which  made  a  murderous 
assault  upon  Paul  and  his  adherents.  Paul  himself 
escaped,  but  two  of  his  friends  were  seized, — Gains 
and  Aristarchus.  The  inevitable  conclusion  is  that 
they  risked  their  own  lives  in  defense  of  Paul,  and 
were  the  most  fearless  and  conspicuous  of  all  his 
friends.  Paul  was  no  less  loyal  to  them  and  was 
determined  to  risk  all  in  order  to  go  to  their  rescue, 
but  other  friends  forcibly  restrained  him. 

Some  time  after  this  occurrence  he  revisited  his 
European  churches  in  Macedonia  and  Greece,  and  on 
his  return  to  Asia  Aristarchus  is  again  mentioned 
among  his  companions  in  travel;  so  it  is  fair  to 
assume  he  had  been  with  him  during  the  entire  trip. 

Already  Paul  was  on  his  last  long  journey  to 
Jerusalem  accompanied  by  the  tearful  forebodings 
and  prophecies  of  his  friends  wherever  he  paused  on 
the  way.  At  last  he  reached  Jerusalem  where  he 
was  speedily  arrested,  and  later  sent  down  to 
Caesarea  to  languish  in  prison  for  two  years  or  more. 
At  length,  after  repeated  judicial  examinations,  it 
was  decided,  in  accordance  with  his  own  demand, 
that  he  should  stand  trial  at  the  judgment  bar  of 
Caesar  in  Rome  itself. 


AEISTARCHUS  191 

In  that  hour  of  peril  there  were  those  who  mani- 
fested the  supreme  love  of  friends  and  were  ready 
to  lay  down  their  lives  for  him  and  with  him.  Not 
one  man  only  but  two  were  eager  to  share  his  dan- 
ger whatever  the  form  it  might  assume.  The  great 
heart  of  the  Apostle  had  taken  their  hearts  captive — 
let  death  come,  in  death  they  would  not  be  divided. 

Those  two  fearless  friends  were  ''Luke  the  beloved 
physician,"  and  Aristarchus  "a  Macedonian  of 
Thessalonica. "  "Where  the  latter  had  been  during 
the  years  of  Paul's  imprisonment  at  Jerusalem  and 
Caesarea  we  do  not  know;  but  from  the  fact  that  he 
was  with  him  on  his  journey  to  Jerusalem  and  at 
hand  ready  to  accompany  him  to  Rome,  there  can 
be  little  doubt  but  that  he  had  always  been  at  his 
leader's  side. 

With  Paul  and  Luke  Aristarchus  suffered  ship- 
wreck and  the  perils  of  the  deep.  With  Paul  he 
entered  the  Eternal  City,  with  Paul  the  prisoner  he 
became  a  prisoner — not  even  the  walls  of  a  dungeon 
could  shut  him  from  the  man  whom  he  loved  with  a 
love  surpassing  fair.  In  writing  to  the  Colossian 
church  Paul  says  ''Aristarchus  my  fellow  prisoner 
saluteth  you."  Of  all  the  young  men  who  rallied 
to  Paul's  side  during  his  languishing  years  at  Rome, 
only  two  attained  the  eminence  of  being  called  his 
"fellow  prisoners,"  and  one  of  the  two,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  Aristarchus.  That  phrase  can  mean  but 
one  of  two  things,  either  these  two  men  were  so 
bold  in  their  championship  of  Paul  as  to  be  them- 
selves imprisoned,  or  else  they  voluntarily  remained 


192  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

at  his  side,  and  so  were  singled  out  by  their  loyalty- 
even  from  such  men  as  Mark,  Luke,  Timothy,  and 
many  others  who  at  various  times  were  with  him  in 
Rome.  In  Paul's  letter  to  Philemon,  also  written 
from  Rome,  Aristarchus  is  named  along  with  Mark, 
Demas,  and  Luke,  as  his  "fellow  laborers" — the 
only  reference  ever  made  to  any  direct  religious 
work  done  by  him;  and  even  this  may  mean  noth- 
ing more  than  his  personal  attendance  upon  Paul. 

In  Paul 's  last  letter  to  Timothy  he  states  that  only 
Luke  was  with  him.  What,  then,  had  become  of 
Aristarchus,  who,  with  Luke,  had  journeyed  to 
Rome  with  him  and  been  faithfully  by  his  side  for 
so  long?  Had  he  failed  Paul  at  the  last?  Scrip- 
ture is  silent ;  but  we  can  not  believe  failure  of  such 
a  man  as  he  had  for  years  shown  himself  to  be. 
There  is  a  tradition  that  he  suffered  martyrdom  at 
Rome.  It  is  easy  to  believe  this.  In  fact,  we  are 
practically  compelled  to  believe  it;  and  also  that  it 
occurred  before  Paul's  own  death  from  the  state- 
ment of  the  latter  that  at  the  end  only  Luke  was 
with  him. 

Ill 
The  Significance  of  Aristarchus^ s  Life 

"Greater  love  hath  no  man  than  this,  that  a  man 
lay  down  his  life  for  his  friends".  "Be  thou  faith- 
ful unto  death  and  I  will  give  thee  a  crown  of  life." 
And  so,  as  we  have  already  declared,  Aristarchus 
exhibited  some  of  the  nobler  virtues  of  character  in 


ARISTARCHUS  193 

their  supreme  degree — courage,  fidelity,  and  love, 
these  three,  and  the  greatest  of  these  was  love. 

He  hath  done  what  he  could — neither  heaven  nor 
earth  could  ask  more.  He  sought  for  no  great 
place,  he  desired  no  trumpeted  name,  he  wished 
only  to  lie  at  Paul's  feet.  With  Paul  he  traveled 
over  mountains  and  across  seas,  with  Paul  he  faced 
bloodthirsty  mobs  and  lay  in  a  felon's  cell. 

Two  men  at  Ephesus  defied  Demetrius  and  his 
murderous  allies — and  Aristarchus  was  one  of  the 
twain:  two  men  voluntarily  crossed  the  seas  with 
Paul — and  Aristarchus  was  one  of  the  twain:  two 
men  became  Paul's  ''fellow  prisoners"  in  Imperial 
Rome — and  Aristarchus  was  one  of  the  twain. 

And  so  with  the  names  of  Barnabas  and  ApoUos 
the  great  orators,  Mark  and  Luke  the  great  authors, 
Timothy  and  Titus  the  great  organizers,  shall  stand 
the  name  of  one  who  was  only  Paul's  ''traveling 
companion,"  only  his  defender  against  mobs,  only 
his  fellow  voyager  and  "fellow  prisoner," — Aristar- 
chus the  Macedonian  of  Thessalonica — "Paul's 
friend  who  was  but  his  friend. ' ' 


CHAPTER  XI 

Epaphras — Paul's   Fellow   Servant   and  Fellow 
Prisoner 


The  story  of  Epaphras 's  career  is  based  on  the 
following  passages: — Col.  1:7-8,  4:12-13,  and  Phile- 
mon 1:24. 


EPAPHRAS  is  named  in  only  two  books  of 
the  New  Testament,  Colossians  and 
Philemon;  and  in  these  two  his  name 
occurs  but  three  times.  All  that  is 
directly  recorded  about  him  is  contained  in  ten 
verses,  and  yet  these  are  enough  to  prove  him  a  man 
of  stalwart  worth  and  large  achievements,  a  man 
therefore  whose  acquaintance  we  could  ill  afford  not 
to  make. 

I 

Epaphras  As  Founder  of  Churches^  Preacher  and 
Pastor 

We  learn  from  Paul's  letter  to  the  church  at 
Colossae  that  the  people  of  that  city  had  never  seen 
his  face,  and  that  the  man  from  whom  they  had 
received  the  Gospel  message  was  Epaphras.  From 
PaufPs  testimony,  in  this  same  epistle,  to  Epaphras 's 

194 


EPAPHRAS  195 

zeal  for  ''them  that  are  in  Laodicea,  and  them  in 
Hierapolis^'  the  inference  is  natural  that  he  was 
also  the  founder  of  the  churches  in  those  two  cities. 
These  three  towns  were  only  a  few  miles  apart,  all 
being  situated  in  Phrygia  in  the  valley  of  the 
Lycus,  a  river  emptying  into  the  Meander. 

From  Paul's  letter  we  also  learn  the  great  and 
simple  themes  of  the  Gospel  which  were  the  burden 
of  the  message  Epaphras  delivered  unto  the  Colos- 
sians — ''faith  in  Jesus  Christ,  the  truth  of  the  gospel, 
and  the  grace  of  God."  From  the  same  source  like- 
wise we  are  informed  what  a  faithful  pastor 
Epaphras  was,  the  condition  of  his  church  bearing 
eloquent  testimony  to  his  labors.  To  Paul's  ears  had 
come  reports  of  their  faith,  their  "love  to  all  the 
saints,"  and  that  they  were  bearing  fruit  from  the 
day  they  first  heard  of  the  Gospel.  All  these  facts 
are  sufficient  proof  of  Epaphras 's  zeal  and  ability 
as  a  founder  of  churches,  as  pastor,  and  as  preacher. 
Nor  is  this  all  that  can  be  said  in  praise  of  his 
staunch  worth  and  watchfulness  in  all  three  capaci- 
ties. When  his  parish  began  to  be  troubled  and 
confused  by  philosophical  speculations  and  by  the 
zealots  of  the  Jewish  law,  feeling  himself  unable  to 
cope  with  the  situation,  he  left  Colossae  temporarily 
and  took  the  long  and  perilous  journey  to  Rome  to 
seek  out  Paul  in  his  prison  and  consult  with  him 
as  to  how  best  his  sorely  perplexed  but  loyal-hearted 
flock  could  be  rescued  from  the  teachings  that  were 
threatening  the  simplicity  of  their  faith  in  Christ. 


196  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

No  journey,  hardship,  or  danger,  counted  for  a 
moment  with  this  faithful  pastor  if  only  he  could 
be  of  true  assistance  to  his  beloved  people.  He 
reported  to  Paul  their  love  and  Christian  zeal,  and 
besought  his  counsel  in  the  crisis  confronting  him 
and  them. 

And  what  testimony  did  Paul  bear  concerning  this 
pastor  who  was  now  so  far  distant  from  his  flock? 
He  was  in  Rome,  but  he  did  not  do  as  the  Romans 
did,  nor  was  he  forgetful  of  those  humble  folk  in 
far-off  Colossae.  He  was  not  dazed  by  the  magnifi- 
cence of  the  Imperial  City,  nor  by  its  pomp  or 
power  and  splendor.  Paul  wrote  back  to  Colossae 
concerning  their  pastor  that  he  was  for  them  ^*a 
faithful  minister  of  Christ,"  that  he  was  ''always 
laboring  fervently  for  them  in  his  prayers,  that 
they  might  stand  perfect  and  complete  in  all  the 
will  of  God  for,"  he  adds,  ''I  bear  him  record  that 
he  hath  a  great  zeal  for  you."  What  a  cheering 
message  for  the  Colossian  church  during  the  absence 
of  their  pastor.  What  joy  it  must  have  brought  to 
their  hearts — Epaphras  was  not  sightseeing  in 
Rome,  nor  on  pleasure  bent.  He  was  counseling 
about  their  welfare  and  praying  for  their  prosperity 
in  Christ. 

Of  Epaphras 's  early  life  and  conversion  we  know 
nothing  with  absolute  certainty.  But  it  would 
appear  that  he  was  a  native  of  Colossae,  and  may 
very  well  have  been  converted  during  a  visit  to 
Ephesus  while  Paul  was  laboring  there.  And  it  is 
probable,  if  the  above  is  a  correct  assumption,  that 


EPAPHRAS  197 

Epaphras  at  once  gave  such  evidence  of  ability  and 
consecration  that  Paul  sent  him  back  to  labor  in  the 
Lycus  valley;  and  that  the  churches  there  planted 
by  him  were  founded  under  Paul's  general  super- 
vision, though  he  did  not  himself  visit  them.  We 
are  informed  by  Acts  19 :  10  that  while  Paul  was 
preaching  in  Ephesus  all  Asia  (the  province  of  that 
name)  '^ heard  the  word  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  both 
Jews  and  Greeks."  Hence  Ephesus  was  but  the 
headquarters  of  a  great  missionary  campaign  con- 
ducted by  Paul  with  the  aid  of  his  many  lieutenants. 

II 

The  Results  of  Pastor  Epaphras' s  Interview   With 
Paul  in  Behalf  of  His  Distant  Flock 

Epaphras  must  have  been  more  than  satisfied  with 
the  results  of  his  visit  to  Paul,  whatever  the  cost  to 
himself  in  time,  money,  and  hardship.  Paul's  inter- 
est in  that  far-off  parish  which  he  had  never  seen, 
was  both  immediate  and  practical.  At  once  he  be- 
gan to  pray  for  them  and  continued  doing  so  with- 
out ceasing  from  the  very  moment  he  heard  from 
Epaphras 's  lips  the  story  of  their  fidelity  and  dan- 
ger. But  Paul's  helpfulness  did  not  end  with  his 
prayers.  He  was  in  chains  and  so  could  not  go  to 
them ;  but  he  could  write  a  letter,  or  dictate  one,  and 
this  he  did.  Out  of  the  riches  of  his  wisdom,  love, 
and  spirituality,  he  gave  to  that  little  flock  a  mes- 
sage which  to  this  day  the  church  universal  treas- 
ures among  its  inspired  writings.  And  to  show  that 
he  did  not  feel  nor  desire  the  obligation  to  be  all 


198  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

on  one  side,  he  interceded  with  that  humble  folk 
to  pray  for  him  and  his  fellow  workers  "that  God 
would  open  for  him  a  door  of  utterance,  to  speak 
the  mystery  of  Christ,  for  which  I  am  also  in  bonds : 
that  I  may  make  it  manifest  as  I  ought  to  speak. ' ' 

So  intensely  was  Paul  interested  in  the  Colossian 
church  that  he  appears  to  have  made  some  great 
sacrifice  in  their  behalf,  for  he  writes  that  he  ''re- 
joices in  his  sufferings  for  them  filling  up  that 
which  was  behind  of  the  afflictions  of  Christ  in  his 
flesh  for  Christ's  body's  sake,  which  is  the  church.*' 
And  he  adds,  ''I  would  that  ye  might  know  what 
great  conflict  I  have  for  you,  and  for  them  at 
Laodicae,  and  for  as  many  as  have  not  seen  my 
face  in  the  flesh. ' ' 

One  other  service  Paul  performed  for  this  church 
as  a  direct  result  of  their  pastor's  visit  to  him:  he 
sent  unto  them  Tychicus,  one  of  his  close  companions, 
that  he  might  farther  know  their  ''estate  and  com- 
fort their  hearts."  And  so  as  a  result  of 
Epaphras's  fidelity  to  his  parish  the  Apostle  devoted 
his  best  powers  to  their  welfare  and  enriched  all 
Christianity  with  another  of  his  inspired  letters. 
To  Epaphras,  then,  as  well  as  to  Paul,  do  we  owe 
a  part  of  our  Word  of  God. 

Ill 

Some  Farther  Evidence  of  Paul's  High  Estimate  of 
Epaphras's  Ability  and  Character 

Of  all  his  many  friends  just  two  men  only  does 
Paul  call  his  "fellow  servants,"  and  Epaphras  is 


EPAPHRAS  199 

one  of  these.  Thus  he  put  him  on  a  par  with  him- 
self in  associated  and  loyal  service  to  their  common 
Lord. 

Just  two  men  only  among  his  many  friends  did 
Paul  refer  to  as  ''bond  servants  of  Jesus  Christ," 
and  Epaphras  was  one  of  these.  Just  two  men  only 
did  Paul  refer  to  as  being  his  ''fellow  prisoners"  in 
Rome,  and  one  of  these  was  Epaphras. 

"Fellow  servant"  and  "fellow  prisoner"  with 
Paul, ' '  bond  servant  of  Jesus  Christ, '  * — what  a  triple 
crown  of  glory  for  the  brow  of  Epaphras,  faithful 
minister  of  Christ  and  of  the  church  at  Colossae. 

IV 

The  Mutual  Love  of  Paul  and  Epaphras 

Perhaps  this  has  already  been  sufficiently  brought 
out  in  what  has  preceded.  Only  a  few  words  more 
shall  be  added.  Paul  speaks  of  Epaphras  as  "dear," 
or  beloved,  to  himself.  Of  Epaphras 's  love  for 
Paul  no  farther  evidence  need  be  sought  than  the 
fact  that  in  the  latter 's  letter  to  Philemon,  an  in- 
habitant of  Colossae,  he  speaks  of  Epaphras  as  being 
at  the  time  his  "fellow  prisoner."  As  in  the  case 
of  Aristarchus  this  can  mean  but  one  of  two  things ; 
either  that  he  became  so  conspicuous  while  at  Rome 
in  his  love  and  zeal  for  Paul  that  he  was  imprisoned 
by  the  authorities  along  with  Paul,  or  that  he 
voluntarily  shared  that  imprisonment  to  comfort 
Paul's  heart  by  his  presence  and  love. 


200  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

I  am  persuaded  that  he  was  actually  imprisoned 
by  the  Roman  authorities,  and  I  base  my  conclusions 
on  the  following  grounds:  The  doctrinal  crisis  at 
Colossae  was  such  as  to  demand  not  only  the  im- 
mediate dispatching  of  a  letter  from  Paul,  but  also 
the  sending  of  a  messenger  who  should  supplement 
the  letter  with  oral  counsel  and  advice.  The  man 
it  would  have  been  most  natural  to  send  would  cer- 
tainly have  been  Epaphras  himself,  who  had  just 
come  to  Rome  for  the  special  purpose  of  counseling 
with  Paul.  Assuredly  no  one  knew  the  whole  situa- 
tion as  well  as  he,  and  from  all  the  testimony  Paul 
bears  as  to  his  character  and  ability,  no  man  was 
better  fitted  to  return  to  Colossae  with  Paul's  letter 
and  oral  instructions.  Why,  then,  did  he  send 
Tychicus  on  this  mission  instead  of  Epaphras,  the 
pastor  of  the  church?  I  can  find  but  one  adequate 
answer  to  this  question — Epaphras  was  at  the  time 
suffering  the  penalty  of  his  devotion  to  Paul,  the 
Roman  authorities  had  honored  him  by  making  him 
Paul's  ' 'fellow  prisoner"  in  fact  as  well  as  in  name. 

But  in  any  case,  Epaphras  partakes  with  Aris- 
tarchus  in  the  immortality  of  having  shared  the 
dungeon  of  the  world's  most  illustrious  prisoner. 

0  Paul,  how  surpassing  marvelous  the  riches  of 
thy  friendships.  In  the  chains  of  affection  which 
bound  men's  hearts  to  thine  own,  they  forgot  the 
chains  that  bound  their  limbs  in  thy  felon's  cell. 
Roman  generals  who  returned  in  triumph  with  vic- 
torious legions  to  be  greeted  by  the  thundering 
acclamations  of  the  Imperial  City's  proud  populace, 


EPAPHRAS  201 

knew  a  lesser  glory  and  joy  than  they  who  walked 
with  thee  the  Via  Dolorosa.  Bear  witness  Aris- 
tarchus,  ''Paul's  friend  who  was  but  his  friend;'' 
bear  witness  Epaphras,  ''Paul's  fellow  servant  and 
^Uow  prisoner." 


CHAPTER  XII 

Epaphroditus — PauVs  Friend  Who  Counted  Not  His 
Own  Life  Dear  Unto  Himself 


Our  knowledge  of  the  career  of  Epaphroditus  is 
confined  to  the  following  passages: — Phil.  2:25-30, 
and  4:18. 


ALL  our  information  concerning  Epaphro- 
ditus is  derived  from  Paul 's  single  letter 
to  the  Philippians,  but  that  is  sufficient 
to  inscribe  his  name  in  the  circle  of  the 
Apostle's  closest  companions  and  among  the  im- 
mortals of  the  early  church.  Apparently  Epaphro- 
ditus was  a  native  of  Philippi,  and  presumably  con- 
verted during  Paul's  visit  to  that  city  on  his  arrival 
in  Macedonia. 

I 
Epaphroditus  as  Messenger  of  the  Philippian  Church 

The  first  Christian  service  performed  by  Epaphro- 
ditus of  which  we  have  any  record,  was  as  the  mes- 
senger of  his  home  church  to  St.  Paul;  but  the  whole 
account  of  the  man  and  his  activity  which  we  do 
have,  implies  that  he  had  long  been  eminent,  at 
least  locally,  in  every  good  work.  At  the  time  he 
was  chosen  messenger  of  the  Philippian  church  the 

202 


EPAPHRODITUS  203 

situation  was  this :  Paul  was  in  Rome  a  prisoner  and 
in  dire  ''affliction.'*  Evidently  that  affliction  was 
not  merely  a  matter  of  prison  hardship,  but  also  one 
of  sore  distress  for  physical  support  and  comforts. 
In  some  way  his  beloved  friends  in  Philippi  heard 
of  his  need  and  at  once  raised  a  fund  for  his  relief. 

Epaphroditus  was  the  man  chosen  to  bear  their 
offerings  to  Paul,  and  he  gladly  accepted  the  com- 
mission. No  better  tribute  could  be  paid  to  him 
than  this  proof  of  confidence  in  his  integrity  on 
the  part  of  those  who  knew  him  best,  and  his  will- 
ingness to  undertake  a  long  and  perilous  journey  to 
seek  out  a  man  in  a  Roman  prison.  It  may  also  be 
assumed  that  the  church  believed  no  other  man 
would  be  more  comforting  or  helpful  to  St.  Paul. 

That  Epaphroditus  faithfully  performed  the  task 
entrusted  to  him  we  know,  for  still  after  nineteen 
hundred  years  we  have  Paul's  receipt  for  the  gifts 
which  he  brought.  ''But  I  have  all,  and  abound: 
I  am  full,  having  received  of  Epaphroditus  the 
things  which  were  sent  from  you,  an  odour  of  a 
sweet  smell,  a  sacrifice  acceptable,  well  pleasing  to 
God."  But  this  was  not  Epaphroditus 's  last  ser- 
vice to  St.  Paul.    Let  us  pass  to  the  next. 

II 

Epaphroditus — The    First    Man    Who    Ever   Had  a 
Personal  Representative  in  the  Foreign  Field 

Today  one  of  the  masterly  and  successful  methods 
of  pushing  foreign  missionary  work,  is  for  a  church 
or   a  single  individual   to   assume  the   entire   sup- 


204  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

port  of  a  missionary.  Perhaps  we  are  wont  to 
think  of  this  as  a  brilliant  modern  idea.  If  so,  we 
are  mistaken.  The  custom  may  have  been  in  abey- 
ance for  eighteen  centuries,  but,  be  that  as  it  may,, 
this  modern  method,  whether  known  or  not  to  those 
who  recently  projected  it,  is  but  the  rediscovery  of 
another  of  the  ''lost  arts."  The  Philippian  church 
originated  this  idea  and  their  representative  on 
the  foreign  field  was  no  less  a  person  than  St.  Paul 
himself.  Listen  to  Paul's  own  statement  about  this^ 
matter.  "But  I  rejoiced  in  the  Lord  greatly,  that 
now  at  the  last  j^our  care  of  me  hath  flourished 
again;  wherein  ye  were  also  careful,  but  ye  lacked 
opportunity.  .  .  .  Now  ye  Philippians  know 
also,  that  in  the  beginning  of  the  gospel,  when  I 
departed  from  Macedonia,  no  church  communicated 
with  me  as  concerning  giving  and  receiving,  but  ye 
only.  For  even  in  Thessalonica  ye  sent  once  and 
again  unto  my  necessity." 

As  the  Philippians  were  the  first  church  to  in- 
troduce this  method,  so  a  member  of  that  church, 
Epaphroditus,  was  the  first  individual  who  ever  had 
a  personal  representative  in  the  foreign  field;  and 
this  representative  was  also  that  same  prince  of 
missionaries  St.  Paul.  Let  us  see  how  this  came 
about.  When  Paul  arrived  a  prisoner  in  Rome  he 
must  have  had  some  private  means,  for  we  are  in- 
formed that  he  dwelt  two  whole  years  in  his  own 
hired  house.  But  evidently  later  on  his  funds  were 
exhausted  owing,  probably,  to  the  prolongation  of 
his  imprisonment  and  the  expenses  attendant  upon 


EPAPHRODITUS  205 

his  trials.  His  letter  to  the  Philippians  betrays  the 
fact  that  he  had  been  reduced  to  great  privations, 
and  the  plain  implication  is  that  he  had  known 
what  it  was  ''to  be  hungry"  and  "to  suffer  need." 
At  this  juncture  Epaphroditus  arrived  with  the  gifts 
of  the  Philippian  church.  But  either  these  proved 
insufficient,  or,  abundant  as  they  may  have  been, 
were  soon  exhausted. 

Some  one  must  now  make  up  that  which  was 
lacking.  Evidently  Paul  was  no  longer  able  to  sup- 
port himself  by  his  trade ;  and  though  he  had  many 
friends,  all  these  were  devoting  their  entire  energies 
i;o  the  spread  of  the  Gospel,  and  were  probably  about 
as  penniless  as  he  himself.  Something  had  to  be 
done.  Either  Paul  must  starve  or  one  of  his  friends 
find  some  kind  of  remunerative  employment  and 
thus  be  able  to  supply  his  needs.  The  man  to  do 
this  was  already  at  hand,  Epaphroditus,  the  mes- 
senger of  the  Philippian  church:  a  man  who  had 
caught  the  spirit  of  his  home  church;  nay,  more, 
who  in  all  likelihood  was  one  of  the  chief  inspirers 
of  their  generosity ;  and  who,  perhaps,  was  not  only 
the  bearer  of  their  gifts  but  also  the  collector  of 
the  same. 

When  the  offerings  he  brought  were  at  length 
exhausted,  he  speedily  found  work  in  Rome  where- 
by he  was  enabled  for  a  time  to  provide  for  the 
wants  both  of  himself  and  of  St.  Paul.  There  is 
evidence  to  support  this  statement.  It  is  found  in 
Paul's    own    words    where    in    his    letter    to    the 


206  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

Philippians  he  refers  to  Epaphroditus  as  ''he  that 
ministered  to  my  wants."  And  in  another  place 
says  of  him: — ''Because  for  the  work  of  Christ  he 
was  nigh  unto  death,  not  regarding  his  life,  to  sup- 
ply yoiu"  lack  of  service  toward  me."  The  plain 
meaning  of  this  last  statement  is  either  that 
Epaphroditus  was  laboring  zealously  all  the  time 
as  an  evangelist  and  putting  in  extra  hours  of 
labor  to  support  Paul  until  he  was  so  worn  out  as 
to  lie  for  a  time  at  death's  door;  or  else  that  his 
whole  time  and  strength  were  given  to  earn  that 
support.  In  either  case  it  is  clear  he  was  per- 
sonally caring  for  Paul  for  a  time;  but  whether  he 
was  also  doing  evangelistic  work  or  not,  Paul  ac- 
counted whatever  he  did  as  "the  work  of  Christ." 
And  so  it  may  truthfully  be  said  that  Epaphroditus 
was  the  first  man  as  far  as  we  have  any  record  who 
ever  had  a  personal  representative  in  the  foreign 
field,  for  while  he  assumed  the  support  of  Paul  the 
latter  was  preaching  to  all  who  came  unto  him, 
writing  letters  to  distant  churches,  and  directing 
his  numerous  Field  Marshals  and  Lieutenants  as 
they  pushed  forward  their  great  campaigns  against 
the  strongholds  of  darkness. 

As  far  as  we  know  Epaphroditus  is  the  only  one 
of  Paul's  friends  who  personally  labored  for  his 
support  while  a  prisoner  in  Rome;  nay,  more  than 
that,  he  is  the  only  individual  of  whom  we  have 
any  record  of  having  supported  Paul  at  any  time 
during  his  ministry. 


EPAPHRODITUS  207 

m 

The  Lovable  Nature  of  Epaphroditus 

We  should  not  be  doing  full  justice  to  the  splendid 
qualities  of  Epaphroditus  did  we  not  devote  a  dis- 
tinct section  of  our  sketch  to  a  contemplation  of 
his  lovable  nature.  This  is  seen  in  the  affection  he 
both  felt  and  inspired  among  all  with  whom  he  was 
associated.  His  fellow^  church  members  at  Philippi 
sent  him  to  Rome.  There  he  fell  sick  "nigh  unto 
death."  They  heard  of  his  illness  and  were  so  anx- 
ious about  him  that  as  soon  as  he  became  convales- 
cent Paul  felt  under  the  necessity  of  immediately 
sending  him  back  to  his  friends  to  allay  their  fears, 
although  he  states  that  ''presently  he  hopes  to  send 
Timothy"  unto  them,  and  also  that  ''he  trusted  in 
the  Lord  he  himself  should  come  to  them  shortly." 
But  the  solicitude  of  the  Philippians  over  the  wel- 
fare of  their  distant  member  was  such  that  Paul 
did  not  feel  justified  in  detaining  him  even  though 
in  the  near  future  either  he  or  Timothy,  or  both  of 
them,  might  be  able  to  accompany  him  home.  That 
Epaphroditus  fully  reciprocated  this  affection  of 
his  home  friends  is  borne  out  by  Paul's  statement 
of  his  feelings: — "For  he  longed  after  you  all,  and 
was  full  of  heaviness,  because  that  ye  had  heard 
that  he  had  been  sick." 

Of  the  affection  existing  between  Paul  and  Epaph- 
roditus, part  of  the  evidence  is  already  before 
us,  but  not  all.  How  he  labored  for  Paul  not  count- 
ing his  own  life  dear  unto  himself,  we  have  already 


208  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

seen.  But  what  of  Paul's  love  for  him?  We  have 
equally  strong  testimony  on  this  point.  Mark  the 
note  of  suppressed  pain  where  Paul  writes — "yet  I 
supposed  it  necessary  to  send  to  you  Epaphroditus, 
my  brother."  Parting  from  this  man  who  had  not 
''regarded  his  own  life"  in  ''supplying  others'  lack 
of  service,"  was  tearing  from  his  heart  a  brother 
beloved.  With  what  tenderness  and  pathos  Paul 
refers  to  Epaphroditus 's  recovery  from  the  gates  of 
death  where  he  says : — "But  God  had  mercy  on  him; 
and  not  on  him  only,  but  on  me  also,  lest  I  should 
have  sorrow  upon  sorrow."  And  how  the  inter- 
twining and  mingling  of  the  three  streams  of  mu- 
tual affections — Paul's,  Epaphroditus 's,  and  the 
Philippians' — is  brought  out  in  these  words  of 
Paul: — "I  sent  him  therefore  the  more  carefully, 
that,  when  ye  see  him  again,  ye  may  rejoice,  and 
that  I  may  be  the  less  sorrowful."  Note  the  separate 
phrases  here — "sent  him  therefore  the  more  care- 
fully," what  tenderness  as  of  a  father  for  a  sick 
son;  "that,  when  ye  see  him  again,  ye  may  rejoice;" 
how  well  Paul  knew  the  joy  Epaphroditus 's  return 
in  safety  would  bring  to  the  Philippians ;  ' '  and  that 
I  may  be  the  less  sorrowful,"  despite  his  own  sor- 
row at  parting  from  Epaphroditus  he  would  be 
made  less  sorrowful  when  he  knew  his  beloved 
Philippians  were  rejoicing  in  having  their  mes- 
senger back  among  them  safe  and  sound  once  more. 
What  an  intertwining  and  intermingling  of  three 
streams  of  mutual  affections  in  that  single  state- 
ment   of    Paul's, — nay,    rather,    in    that    flashlight 


EPAPHRODITUS  209 

revelation  of  his  great  loving  heart.  And  then 
what  yearning  solicitude  as  he  adds  this  superfluous 
plea  as  to  how  the  Philippians  should  welcome  their 
longed-for  messenger — ''Receive  him  therefore  in 
the  Lord  with  all  gladness/'  Surely  Paul  never 
touched  a  deeper  chord  nor  sounded  a  tenderer  note 
than  in  all  he  had  to  say  about  this  friend  who 
hazarded  his  life  in  his  behalf. 

lY 

Epaphroditus*s  Service  to  the  Church  Universal 

His  carrying  of  the  gifts  of  the  Philippian  church 
to  Paul  was  a  service  to  the  church  universal.  His 
own  labors  to  support  Paul  was  a  service  to  the 
church  universal.  But  there  is  still  another  service 
of  incalculable  value  that  Epaphroditus  rendered  to 
Christianity  to  all  time,  that  is,  he  was  the  trusty 
bearer  of  that  priceless  document,  that  God-inspired 
message,  Paul's  epistle  to  the  Philippians.  It  is 
quite  probable  also  that  he  was  Paul's  amanuensis 
at  the  time  of  its  writing,  and  that  his  hand  first 
traced  those  words  of  flaming  love  and  inspiration. 
It  is  also  beyond  controversy  that  his  mission  to 
Paul,  his  services,  and  his  illness  in  Rome,  prompted 
the  writing  of  this  letter  which  Paul  gave  into  his 
keeping  to  deliver  to  their  mutual  friends  at  Philippi 
on  his  safe  arrival  home. 

Had  it  not  been  for  thee,  0  Epaphroditus,  the 
church  at  Philippi  would  have  been  the  poorer, 
Paul's    afflictions    more    intense,    and    Christianity 


210  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

deprived  of  one  of  its  noblest  sons,  and,  probably, 
of  one  of  the  brightest  gems  of  the  inspired  Word. 

V 

Paul's  Tribute  to  the  Heroism  of  Epaphroditus 

But  Epaphroditus  was  not  merely  a  man  of  lovable 
nature,  not  merely  a  man  utterly  forgetful  of  self 
in  his  service  of  others,  and  not  merely  a  useful  link 
in  the  chain  of  events  which  enriched  the  world  with 
a  choicest  letter, — but  he  was  also  a  soldier  and  a 
hero. 

Of  all  the  brave  men  who  foregathered  with  Paul 
in  Rome,  upon  Epaphroditus  alone  does  he  confer 
the  distinction  of  being  called  a  ^ ^fellow  soldier." 
"My  brother,  and  companion  in  labor,  and  fellow 
soldier,'' — such  is  Paul's  ringing  crescendo  of  un- 
conscious eulogy. 

Whether  Epaphroditus  could  found  a  church  or 
not,  we  do  not  know.  Whether  he  could  preach  a 
sermon  or  not,  we  do  not  know.  Whether  he  ever 
led  a  man  to  Christ  or  not,  we  do  not  know.  It  is 
not  necessary  that  we  should  know  any  of  these 
things.  What  we  do  know  is  sufficient — he  was 
Paul's  brother  and  was  sick  nigh  unto  death  in  his 
behalf.  And  so  with  Paul's  his  name  was  linked  in 
Rome  and  with  Paul's  is  linked  in  Holy  Scripture. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Onesimus — The  Highest  Example  of  the  Transform- 
ing Power  of  Friendship  With  St.  Paul 


The  story  of  the  career  of  Onesimus  is  based  iipon 
the  following  passages: — Col.  4:9,  and  Philemon 
1:10-21. 


WE  have  already  met  the  pastor  of  the 
Colossian  church,  Paul's  friend 
Epaphras.  In  writing  his  epistle  to 
that  church  Paul  referred  to  him  in 
these  words — ''who  is  one  of  you."  In  the  same 
letter  he  spoke  of  another  friend  of  his  at  Rome  in 
exactly  the  same  words — ''Onesimus  who  is  one  of 
you" — and  called  him  "a  faithful  and  beloved 
brother." 

Let  us  assume  this  is  the  first  time  we  ever  heard 
of  this  man  and  that  all  we  know  about  him  is  con- 
fined to  this  single  phrase  of  Paul's — "a  faithful  and 
beloved  brother."  Let  us  see  what  inferences  we 
might  legitimately  draw  concerning  the  man  and 
his  character. 

211 


212  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 


Inferences    Which    May    Be    Drawn    From    PauVs 
Testimony  Concerning  Onesimus 

No  man  ever  lived  whom  I  had  rather  have  call 
me  a  ''faithful  and  beloved  brother'*  than  St.  Paul. 
His  commendation  is  a  sufficient  testimony  for  any 
man.  Paul  was  a  keen  judge  of  human  character. 
He  had  probed  the  depths  of  his  own  heart  and  mo- 
tives, and  had  had  unlimited  opportunities  both  by 
observation  and  experience  for  testing  the  charac- 
ters of  other  men  in  every  walk  and  rank  in  life. 
Nor  was  he  given  to  the  use  of  flattering  terms 
concerning  any  man  high  or  low.  So  when  he 
speaks  of  Onesimus  as  "faithful"  he  has  paid  him 
a  splendid  tribute.  That  word  means  much  when 
used  truthfully  by  any  man,  then  how  much  richer 
its  content  and  suggestiveness  w^hen  used  by  Paul 
who  so  abhored  cowardice  and  so  admired  bravery, 
and  set  such  a  high  standard  for  himself  and  his 
friends.     And  Onesimus  met  that  standard. 

But  not  only  was  Onesimus  faithful  as  a  Chris- 
tian, but  to  Paul  he  was  ''beloved"  as  a  friend. 
He  had  qualities  of  heart  that  called  forth  the  per- 
sonal affection  of  the  Apostle.  Now  a  man  of  very 
lowly  walk  in  life  might  be  faithful,  and  might  also 
inspire  the  Apostle's  affection.  But  Onesimus  was 
something  more  than  simply  an  object  of  Paul's  love. 
Paul  lifted  him  to  the  front  rank  in  his  friend- 
ship and  called  him  "brother."    "Faithful,  beloved, 


ONESIMUS  213 

brother ' '  —  character,  affection,  equality  —  surely 
Onesimus  was  a  man  whom  any  one  might  have  been 
proud  to  know  and  call  friend. 

It  will  be  borne  in  mind  that  Paul  was  in  Rome 
when  he  wrote  these  things  of  Onesimus,  and  that 
he  did  so  in  a  letter  to  the  Christian  church  at 
Colossae.  Onesimus  was  an  inhabitant  of  that  city, 
but  at  the  time  of  the  writing  of  Paul's  letter, 
chanced  to  be  with  him  in  Rome.  Now  with  Paul's 
praise  of  him  in  mind  let  us  go  to  Colossae  ourselves 
and  make  inquiries  concerning  him  and  see  what 
he  is  thought  of  in  his  home  town. 

II 

Onesimus  As  Known  In  Colossae 

We  are  in  Colossae  and  ask  the  first  man  we  meet 
about  Onesimus  the  friend  and  brother  of  the  Apostle 
Paul ;  but  the  stranger  we  address  can  give  us  no  in- 
formation whatever.  We  continue  to  pursue  our 
inquiries  for  some  time,  but  to  our  amazement  no  one 
seems  ever  to  have  heard  of  him.  Finally  we  begin 
to  doubt  that  the  man  about  whom  we  are  seeking 
information  was  ever  in  Colossae  at  all;  either  he 
has  deceived  Paul,  or  else  the  latter  has  himself  made 
a  mistake  about  Onesimus 's  native  city.  We  are 
on  the  point  of  giving  up  all  farther  search  when 
some  one  suggests  that  possibly  Philemon,  a  rich 
member  of  the  church  and  an  intimate  friend  of 
Paul,  might  be  able  to  give  us  the  information  we 
desire. 


214  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

Encouraged  by  this,  we  hasten  at  once  to  the  home 
of  Philemon  and  repeat  our  inquiries  about  Paul's 
beloved  brother  Onesimus,  a  resident  of  Colossae. 
At  first  Philemon  declares  he  has  never  heard  the 
name  of  such  a  man ;  but  we  insist  that  Paul  has  so 
spoken  of  him.  Then  at  last  a  puzzled  look  comes 
into  Philemon's  face  and  to  our  astonishment  he 
declares  that  the  only  Onesimus  he  knows  anything 
about  is  one  of  his  slaves,  and  more  than  that,  he  is 
a  runaway  and  a  defrauder  into  the  bargain.  We 
indignantly  deny  that  any  such  man  is  the  friend 
of  whom  Paul  spoke;  and  Philemon  also  hastens  to 
say  it  is  impossible.  Farther  conversation,  however, 
with  a  comparison  of  some  details,  proves  beyond 
doubt  that  Onesimus  whom  Paul  regards  as  a  ''faith- 
ful and  beloved  brother"  is  one  and  the  same  man 
as  Philemon's  defrauding  fugitive  slave.  We  are 
chagrined  and  humiliated  by  these  results  of  our 
inquiries;  and  Philemon  is  equally  angered  at  the 
deception  practiced  upon  Paul  by  his  perfidious  slave* 
and  declares  he  will  write  immediately  exposing 
Onesimus 's  true  condition  together  with  his  past  evil 
record. 

Ill 

Who  Then  Was  Right  In  His  Estimate  of  Onesimus — 
Paul  or  Philemon? 

How  shall  we  reconcile  these  conflicting  opinions 
about  Onesimus,  or  is  it  impossible  to  do  so  ?  Surely 
Philemon  must  know  him  better  than  Paul,  and  his 
report  must  be  strictly  true,  for  he  is  a  man  of  char- 


ONESIMUS  215 

acter  and  honor.  Has  Onesimus,  then,  completely 
deceived  Paul?  At  first  that  seems  the  only  solu- 
tion of  the  mystery  and  we  are  about  to  accept  it 
when  who  should  appear  but  Onesimus  himself  with 
a  letter  from  Paul  which  he  delivers  into  Philemon's 
hands.  The  latter  hastily  devours  its  contents.  No, 
Onesimus  has  not  deceived  Paul  in  the  least;  for 
here  in  this  letter  stands  revealed  in  Paul's  own 
words  all  the  worst  facts  that  Philemon  has  just  been 
telling  us  about  him ;  and  the  only  possible  way  Paul 
could  know  them  was  by  the  confession  of  Onesimus 
himself.  So  whatever  the  solution  of  our  perplexity, 
one  thing  is  clear,  Onesimus  has  not  deceived  Paul 
about  his  past.  But  if  Paul  knows  all  about  that, 
as  clearly  he  does,  how  then  can  he  speak  so  highly 
of  this  slave  in  his  letter  to  the  Colossian  church? 
There  is  but  a  single  remaining  hypothesis — some 
great  and  fundamental  change  must  have  taken  place 
in  Onesimus  himself. 

Here  then  lies  the  secret  of  the  conflicting  views 
held  at  Rome  and  Colossae.  We  have  discovered  it 
at  last, — Onesimus  has  been  converted  through  Paul's 
influence,  and  is  a  changed  man.  ''I  beseech  thee  for 
my  son  Onesimus,  whom  I  have  begotten  in  my 
bonds,"  writes  the  Apostle  to  his  friend  Philemon. 

That  Paul  believed  in  the  genuineness  of  Onesi- 
mus 's  conversion  is  abundantly  proved.  It  is  proved 
by  his  testimony  concerning  him  to  the  Colossian 
church.  It  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  Paul  was 
earnestly  desirous  of  retaining  him  at  Rome  *Hhat 
he  might  minister  unto  himself  in  the  bonds  of  the 


216  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

Gospel."  It  is  proved  by  the  fact  that  Paul  trusted 
him  to  go  back  voluntarily  to  the  master  whom  he 
had  defrauded,  and  committed  unto  his  keeping 
along  with  Tychicus  two  letters  to  deliver  in 
Colossae,  one  to  the  church  and  the  other  to 
Philemon;  and  also  entrusted  to  him  with  Tychicus 
an  oral  message  to  the  Christians  in  his  home  city. 

Nor  was  Paul's  faith  in  Onesimus  betrayed  in  any 
particular.  He  went  back  to  his  master,  he  delivered 
the  letters,  he  was  a  changed  man.  The  defrauding 
fugitive  slave  had  become  by  right  of  character  the 
"faithful  and  beloved  brother"  of  the  greatest  man 
of  his  generation. 

Onesimus  is,  therefore,  the  great,  the  supreme 
example  of  the  transforming  power  of  Paul's  friend- 
ship. That  power  lifted  a  criminal  of  the  slave  class 
to  the  level,  to  the  bights,  of  the  innermost  circle 
of  Paul's  love  and  fellowship. 

IV 

The  Mutual  Love  of  Paul  and  Onesimus 

Onesimus 's  love  for  Paul  must  have  been  a  master 
passion,  one  that  not  only  gave  him  joy  as  he  lay 
at  the  Apostle's  feet  or  ministered  to  his  comfort, 
but  one  great  enough  to  give  him  the  strength  to 
forego  such  happiness  and  at  the  bidding  of  his 
new-found  friend  and  brother,  turn  back  from  the 
freedom  of  Rome  and  seek  again  his  position  as 
slave  at  Colossae.  Farther  than  this  obedience  to 
the  behests  of  love  could  not  go.     Onesimus  loved 


ONESIMUS  217 

Paul  enough  to  bid  him  adieu  forever  if  that  seemed 
the  better  way  unto  Paul  himself.* 

And  what  answer  did  Paul  make  to  a  love  so 
tragic  in  the  sacrifices  it  unhesitatingly  made?  Did 
his  heart  go  out  to  this  slave  with  the  intensity  and 
fulness  with  which  the  slave's  heart  went  out  to 
him?  Had  Paul  room  for  another  friend,  another 
friendship,  one  like  unto  the  others  which  have  been 
blessing  the  world  these  nineteen  hundred  years? 
Yes,  that  fount  of  love  had  not  run  dry,  there  was 
still  an  abundant  stream  whereat  a  slave  might  also 
quench  the  thirst  of  his  desolate  heart.  At  last  the 
lonely  bondman  had  a  friend,  one  who  did  not  gaze 
down  upon  him  in  pity  from  some  inaccessible  pin- 
nacle, but  one  who  clasped  him  to  his  heart  crying 
''my  brother,  my  beloved  brother." 

Listen  to  the  Apostle's  pleading  words  to  Phile- 
mon, Onesimus's  master,  words  still  palpitating  and 
athrill  with  a  love  which  not  only  translated  a  slave 
into  a  freeman  of  Christ,  but  has  also  enriched  the 
literature  and  life  of  all  humanity: — "I  beseech 
thee  for  my  son  Onesimus,  whom  I  have  begotten 
in  my  bonds:  Which  in  time  past  was  to  thee  un- 
profitable, but  now  profitable  to  thee  and  to  me; 
whom  I  have  sent  again :  thou  therefore  receive  him, 
that  is,  my  very  heart :  whom  I  would  have  retained 


*0f  the  bearing  of  this  incident  on  the  general  problem  of 
slavery  we  shall  make  no  comment.  It  has  again  and  again 
been  ably  discussed  from  every  viewpoint,  and  the  nature  of 
our  purpose  calls  for  no  restatement  here. 


218  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

with  me,  that  in  thy  stead  he  might  have  ministered 
unto  me  in  the  bonds  of  the  gospel."  Tenderer, 
more  solicitous  words  were  never  written. 

Three  young  men  Paul  clasped  to  his  heart,  calling 
them  his  "sons" — Timothy,  Titus  and  the  slave 
Onesimus.  For  the  latter  he  had  a  tenderness  such 
as  Jacob  felt  for  Joseph  and  Benjamin,  the  children 
of  his  old  age.  Listen,  and  you  can  hear  even  yet  the 
father  heart-throb  in  the  old  warrior's  tones  as  he 
cries  out  to  the  slaveholder  Philemon — "being  such 
a  one  as  Paul  the  aged  ...  I  beseech  thee  for 
my  son  Onesimus  whom  I  have  begotten  in  my 
bonds."  And  then  he  offered  the  best  apology  he 
could  for  Onesimus 's  running  away: — "For  perhaps 
he  therefore  departed  for  a  season,  that  thou 
shouldest  receive  him  forever."  And  he  followed 
this  with  still  another  plea  for  this  child  of  his 
whose  reception  by  his  former  master  was  such  a 
burden  on  his  heart.  "Receive  him"  Paul  entreats 
"not  now  as  a  servant,  but  above  a  servant,  a 
brother  beloved,  specially  to  me,  but  how  much  more 
unto  thee,  both  in  the  flesh,  and  in  the  Lord. ' ' 

No  plea  could  go  farther,  love  itself  could  go  no 
farther — "receive  him  as  myself."  And  even  after 
that  Paul  could  not  let  the  matter  rest,  he  must  say 
yet  one  word  more,  make  a  final  intercession.  Per- 
haps Philemon  will  feel  that  he  has  been  defrauded 
of  his  slave's  services  during  his  absence;  or  pos- 
sibly he  had  stolen  from  him  when  he  fled,  as  is 
quite  generally  suggested.  So  Paul  added  "If  he 
hath  wronged  thee,  or  oweth  thee  aught,  put  that  on 


ONESIMUS  219 

mine  account ;  I  Paul  have  written  it  -with  mine  own 
hand,  I  will  repay  it."  Did  own  father  ever  plead 
more  earnestly  for  an  only  son? 

O  Paul,  thou  who  didst  wear  the  chains  in  thy 
dungeon  and  carry  the  burden  of  all  the  churches 
upon  thy  heart,  yet  hadst  thou  time  to  plead  the 
bondman 's  cause.  What  a  friendship  was  this !  How 
rich,  0  Onesimus,  thy  lot.  How  paltry  Nero's  heri- 
tage in  comparison  with  thine  own. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Philemon — A  Slaveholder  Whom  Paul  Dared  Appeal 
to  in  the  Name  of  Friendship 


Our  entire  knowledge  of  Philemon  is  confined  to 
Paul's  single  brief  letter  to  him. 


WE  have  just  seen  Paul's  intense  love 
for  a  slave,  we  now  turn  to  consider 
his  equally  beautiful  and  tender 
affection  for  a  slaveholder.  In  Paul's 
friendship  as  well  as  in  his  theology  and  gospel, 
there  was  neither  bond  nor  free,  a  man  was  a  man 
and  a  friend  a  friend  regardless  of  social  distinctions 
or  financial  status. 

Already  we  have  made  the  acquaintance  of  two 
of  his  Colossian  friends,  Onesimus  and  Epaphras; 
let  us  now  make  the  closer  acquaintance  of  a  third 
— Philemon.  I  say  ''closer  acquaintance"  for  we 
already  have  a  bowing  acquaintance  with  him  having 
been  introduced  when  we  studied  the  career  of 
Onesimus. 

However  let  us  ignore  all  that  we  have  previously 
learned,  not  only  about  Philemon  but  also  about 
Onesimus,  in  order  that  our  study  of  Paul's  friend- 

220 


PHILEMON  221 

ship  with  the  former  may  be  complete  in  itself. 
Onesimus,  it  will  be  recalled,  is  named  and  highly- 
commended  in  Paul 's  letter  to  the  Colossian  church ; 
but  our  knowledge  of  Philemon  is  confined  exclu- 
sively to  Paul's  brief  letter  to  him,  and  in  this  also 
we  derive  the  larger  part  of  our  information  con- 
cerning Onesimus.  From  this  short  letter  alone  we 
could  easily  draw  a  portrait  of  each  of  the  three 
men  whose  interrelations  are  the  subject  of  its  con- 
tents:— Paul's,   Onesimus 's,   and   Philemon's. 

I 

We  Make  the  Acquaintance  of  Philemon 

Philemon  was,  as  has  already  been  stated,  a  citizen 
of  Colossae,  a  city  situated  in  the  province  of 
Phrygia,  Asia  Minor.  Ilis  worldly  circumstances 
were  more  than  comfortable,  in  short,  he  was  a 
wealthy  man,  probably  the  only  one  in  the  entire 
circle  of  Paul's  close  friends.  The  evidence  of  his 
wealth  is  plentiful,  but  not  obtrusive;  rather  it  is 
only  indirectly  and  unintentionally  revealed.  He 
appears  in  Paul's  letter  as  the  owner  of  slaves;  as 
one  having  a  house  of  sufficient  size  as  easily  to 
serve  as  a  place  for  church  gatherings  and  worship, 
in  fact,  as  the  headquarters  of  the  church  itself. 
These  facts  which  incidentally  come  out  in  Paul's 
letter  all  imply  that  he  was  a  man  of  ample  sub- 
stance. 

But  Philemon's  wealth  was  the  thing  of  least 
significance  about  him.  He  had  an  ideal  Christian 
home.     Paul's  letter  is  not  only  addressed  to  him 


222  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

but  also  to  Apphia  and  Archippus,  who  are  supposed 
to  have  been  his  wife  and  son,  the  latter  being  a 
minister  as  we  learn  from  the  Colossian  epistle,  and 
the  only  man  save  Epaphroditus  whom  Paul  ever 
referred  to  as  a  "fellow  soldier."  Such  was  this 
united  Christian  household  with  a  church  in  their 
own  home. 

All  these  things  however  are  but  outward  facts 
concerning  Philemon:  what  of  his  real  character, 
was  he  bearing  the  fruits  of  Christian  discipleship  ? 
Paul's  words  leave  us  no  misgivings  on  this  point, 
his  testimony  concerning  this  friend  is  unsurpassed. 

He  thanks  God  for  what  he  heard  of  Philemon's 
"love  and  faith  toward  the  Lord  Jesus."  Two 
sources  of  information  were  open  to  Paul  to  learn 
these  things  and  we  may  be  sure  he  availed  himself 
of  both.  He  was  visited  in  Rome  by  Philemon's 
slave  and  by  his  pastor,  Onesimus  and  Epaphras. 
Their  testimony  must  have  concurred,  and  no 
stronger  evidence  could  there  be  of  the  genuineness 
and  beauty  of  a  man's  character.  Their  testimony 
was  that  Philemon  was  a  man  of  faith  and  love 
toward  Christ.  But  that  was  not  all  they  had  to 
say  of  him.  They  told  of  the  attitude  of  this  rich 
man  toward  his  less  fortunate  Christian  brethren 
His  character  could  stand  this  crucial  test.  They 
spoke  of  his  love  "toward  all  saints,"  and  how  this 
love  found  practical  expression  in  a  door  ever  open 
in  its  boundless  hospitality.  Surely  here  was  a 
Christian  layman  who  might  well  serve  as  the 
world's  model  for  all  time. 


PHILEMON  223 

And  yet  he  was  a  slaveholder,  and  Paul  was 
writing  him  a  letter  of  intense  earnestness  and 
solicitude  wherein  his  anxieties  for  Onesimus  and 
his  confidence  in  his  correspondent  seemed  to  be 
struggling  for  the  mastery  in  every  line,  and  throb 
in  every  syllable.  Was  there  then  some  lurking 
defect  in  Philemon's  character,  some  fatal  blemish 
in  his  Christian  profession?  No,  not  that,  it  was 
Paul's  yearning  paternal  love  for  his  newly  ''be- 
gotten son"  Onesimus,  and  his  earnest  desire  that 
Philemon  should  voluntarily  rise  to  the  loftiest 
hights  of  Christian  altruism  which  made  Paul's 
letter  palpitate  with  such  seemingly  antagonistic 
emotions  of  fear  and  certitude. 

II 

Paul's  Direct  Appeal  to  Philemon 

What,  then,  was  the  occasion  of  Paul's  writing 
to  Philemon,  and  what  request  had  he  to  make  about 
which  he  was  in  such  dead  earnest? 

Before  answering  these  questions,  let  us  have  the 
entire  situation  clearly  before  us.  Paul,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  a  prisoner  in  Rome  at  the  time  he  wrote 
this  letter.  Onesimus,  Philemon's  slave,  had  escaped 
from  Colossae,  and  either  by  chance  or  because  of 
previous  acquaintance  with  Paul  or  knowledge  of 
his  whereabouts,  joined  him  in  Rome  and  speedily 
became  his  almost  indispensable  attendant,  minister- 
ing unto  Paul's  needs  in  his  bonds.  Onesimus  was 
soon  converted  and  then,  much  as  Paul  needed  his 
ministrations,  he  yet  felt  it  his  bounden  duty  not 


224  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

to  retain  him  without  his  master's  free  consent, 
however  much  that  master  was  under  obligations  to 
himself.  So  Paul  persuaded  Onesimus  that  it  was 
his  duty  as  a  Christian  to  return  to  his  former 
master.  Probably  this  was  done  lest  there  follow 
wherever  the  Gospel  was  preached  and  the  liberation 
of  Onesimus  become  known,  an  insurrection  of  con- 
verted and  pseudo-converted  slaves,  which  consti- 
tuted about  fifty  per  cent  of  the  population  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  So  Onesimus  consented  to  do  as 
Paul   advised   and   returned  to   Colossae. 

Now  in  running  away  Onesimus  had  defrauded 
his  master  of  his  services  during  his  absence,  and, 
farther,  it  would  appear  likely  that  he  had  either 
stolen  from  him  or  wronged  him  in  some  other  way 
also.  All  this  would  make  him  liable  to  severe  puxi- 
ishment  on  his  return.  Whether  he  himself  had  any 
fears  on  that  score,  we  do  not  know.  Neither  can 
we  say  how  far  Paul  feared  such  a  result;  but,  at 
any  rate,  he  had  considerable  anxiety  as  to  just 
what  Onesimus 's  reception  would  be,  and  so  deter- 
mined to  do  all  in  his  power  to  influence  Philemon 
not  only  to  forego  all  punishment,  but  even  to  re- 
ceive back  his  offending  servant  as  cordially  and 
kindly  as  he  would  himself. 

This,  then,  was  the  purpose  of  Paul's  letter,  this 
his  direct  appeal  to  Philemon.  An  inspired  book  of 
our  Holy  Scriptures  is,  therefore,  the  very  flowering 
of  the  heart  of  the  world's  matchless  friend — the 
intercession  of  Christ's  greatest  Apostle  and  Chris- 
tianity's greatest  missionary,  in  behalf  of  a  poor 


PHILEMON  225 

runaway  slave;  and  all  this,  not  that  the  slave's 
life  might  be  spared,  but  that  he  might  be  received 
by  his  wealthy  Christian  master  in  all  kindness  as  a 
friend  and  brother  in  Jesus  Christ. 

And  while  Paul  did  not  present  his  appeal  in  any 
formal,  logical  argument,  as  would  have  been  ap- 
propriate in  a  court  of  law  and  entirely  inappro- 
priate in  a  letter  of  private  friendship,  yet  was 
there  ever  such  a  masterly  and  unobtrusive  blending 
of  the  most  cogent  arguments  with  the  tenderest  of 
appeals, — a  blending  of  arguments  so  subtle  and  so 
inseparably  interwoven  with  the  very  texture  of  the 
appeal  as  almost  to  defy  analysis  and  classification. 
However,  were  we  to  attempt  to  separate  and  ana- 
lyze the  argument,  we  would  find  that,  brief  as  this 
letter  is  and  packed  as  it  is  with  other  facts,  impli- 
cations, and  emotions,  Paul  based  his  appeal  for 
Philemon's  clemency  toward  Onesimus  on  six  differ- 
ent grounds,  which,  taken  together,  are  overwhelm- 
ing in  their  cogency,  and  surpassingly  delicate  and 
tactful  in  their  wording. 

In  the  name  of  their  own  friendship  and  mutual 
love  Paul  appealed  to  Philemon  directly  on  the 
grounds  of  sympathy;  he  who  might  be  *^bold  to 
enjoin  .  .  .  rather  beseeches  for  love's  sake 
being  such  a  one  as  Paul  the  aged,  and  now  also  the 
prisoner  of  Jesus  Christ."  He  appealed  to  Phile- 
mon on  the  grounds  of  a  personal  obligation  the 
latter  owed  him  and  which  he  might  have  claimed  at 
the  hands  of  his  servant,  but  which  he  had  volun- 
tarily foregone  out  of  courtesy,  for  he  would  receive 


226  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

no  payment  not  willingly  made.  Paul  appealed  to 
him  on  the  grounds  of  the  joy  he  could  give  him  in 
his  dungeon — ''Yea,  brother,  let  me  have  joy  of  thee 
in  the  Lord.  ...  If  thou  count  me  therefore  a 
partner,  receive  him  as  myself."  He  appealed  to 
him  in  the  name  of  his  own  love  for  Onesimus — "I 
beseech  thee  for  my  son  Onesimus."  Paul  appealed 
to  him  on  financial  grounds,  the  slave  was  once 
valueless  to  him  but  he,  Paul,  had  made  him  valu- 
able and  honest,  therefore  Philemon  ought  to  receive 
him  kindly  and  be  glad  that  he  ran  away:  "Which 
in  time  past  was  to  thee  unprofitable,  but  now 
profitable  to  thee  and  to  me."  And  farther,  on  this 
score,  Paul  would  have  made  good  out  of  his  own 
pocket  any  loss  his  correspondent  might  have  suf- 
fered through  his  slave's  flight.  And,  lastly,  Patd 
dared  to  appeal  to  this  Christian  slaveholder  in  the 
name  of  Christian  brotherhood,  and  on  the  basis  of 
the  equality  of  master  and  slave,  both  alike  being 
freemen  in  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Listen  to  Paul's 
own  words:  "For  perhaps  he  therefore  departed 
for  a  season,  that  thou  shouldest  receive  him  for- 
ever; not  now  as  a  servant,  but  above  a  servant,  a 
brother  beloved,  specially  to  me,  but  how  much 
more  unto  thee,  both  in  the  flesh,  and  in  the  Lord  ? ' ' 
Surely  no  man  of  heart  and  conscience  could 
resist  such  an  appeal  as  this — an  appeal  that  was  all 
argument,  argument  that  was  all  appeal.  Had  this 
been  the  letter  of  a  total  stranger,  Philemon  could 
not  but  have  granted  its  request;  how  much  more 


PHILEMON  227 

then,  seeing  that  it  came  from  the  pen  and  the  heart 
of  his  friend,  one  to  whom  he  was  personally  under 
very  high  obligations. 

Ill 

Paul's  Indirect  Appeal  to  Philemon 

While  Paul's  direct  appeal  to  Philemon  concerned 
itself  merely  with  the  kind  of  reception  he  should 
accord  his  runaway  slave,  yet  no  one  can  study  his 
letter  without  perceiving  that  it  contains  also  an 
indirect  appeal.  And  though  indirect  yet  powerful, 
more  powerful  even  than  if  directly  preferred — a 
plea  for  Onesimus's  emancipation. 

The  grounds  for  believing  there  is  such  an  indirect 
appeal  in  this  letter  are  threefold.  First,  this  state- 
ment— ''Having  confidence  in  thy  obedience  I  wrote 
unto  thee,  knowing  that  thou  wilt  also  do  more  than 
I  say."  What  had  Paul  said?  He  had  asked  that 
Onesimus  be  kindly  received.  Now  if  Philemon  was 
to  do  even  more  than  that,  what  could  Paul  have 
had  in  mind  except  Onesimus's  complete  freedom? 
Second,  this  statement — *'If  thou  count  me  therefore 
a  partner,  receive  him  as  myself."  Now  how  would 
Philemon  have  received  Paul?  Not  merely  kindly, 
but  as  a  free  man.  Would  the  kindly  reception  of 
Onesimus  as  a  slave  be  the  same  reception  as  he 
would  give  Paul,  a  free  man?  I  think  not.  Paul 
must  have  had  something  more  than  that  in  mind. 
Third,  this  statement — '*For  perhaps  he  therefore 
departed  for  a  season,  that  thou  shouldest  receive 
him  forever;  not  now  as  a  servant,  but  above  a  ser- 


228  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

vant,  a  brother  beloved,  specially  to  me,  but  how 
much  more  unto  thee,  both  in  the  flesh,  and  in  the 
Lord?"  Now  if  Philemon  received  Onesimus  "not 
as  a  servant,  but  above  a  servant,  as  a  brother 
beloved  .  .  .  both  in  the  flesh,  and  in  the 
Lord,"  would  it  be  possible  to  keep  him  any  longer 
in  bondage? 

Scripture  is  silent  as  to  the  response  Philemon 
made  to  Paul's  indirect  plea,  but  tradition  affirms 
that  he  freed  Onesimus  and  that  the  one-time  slave, 
begotten  in  Christ  Jesus  in  Paul's  bonds,  became 
eminent  in  Christian  service. 

IV 

Paul  and  Philemon — Their  Mutual  Love  and  Some 
Aspects  of  Their  Friendship 

If  we  should  first  consider  the  religious  ties  bind- 
ing these  two  friends  together,  we  would  not  after- 
wards be  surprised  at  Paul's  courage  in  addressing 
the  wealthy  and  powerful  Philemon  as  he  did.  It 
is  practically  certain  that  the  latter  was  a  convert  of 
Paul's.  We  gather  this  from  Paul's  words  where 
he  writes — "albeit  I  do  not  say  to  thee  how  thou 
owest  unto  me  even  thine  own  self  besides."  In 
another  place  he  refers  to  himself  as  being  counted 
a  "partner"  by  Philemon;  and  in  his  salutations, 
he  calls  his  correspondent  his  "fellow  laborer."  It 
is  possible  that  he  would  have  so  spoken  of  him  as 
a  zealous  Christian,  even  had  they  never  worked 
together  in  the  same  place,  but  this  is  scarcely  prob- 


PHILEMON  229 

able.  It  is  more  likely  that  at  some  time  they  had 
actually  labored  together  in  evangelistic  work. 

Now  Paul,  as  we  have  seen,  did  not  found  the 
Colossian  church,  and  we  have  no  record  of  his  ever 
having  visited  it,  and  yet  Philemon  was  one  of  his 
converts.  It  is  quite  generally  believed  that  during 
Paul's  long  ministry  at  Ephesus,  Philemon,  residing 
in  a  not  distant  town,  heard  of  the  great  events 
taking  place  in  the  neighboring  city  so  made  a 
journey  thither  and  while  there  was  led  to  Christ  by 
the  great  Apostle,  and  thereafter  remained  for  a 
season  as  his  ''fellow  laborer."  The  same  was  ap- 
parently the  case  with  Epaphras ;  and  it  is  probable 
that  these  two  Colossians  proved  themselves  so 
efficient  that  Paul  soon  sent  them  back  to  found  a 
church  in  their  own  city,  Philemon  opening  his 
spacious  home  for  this  purpose  while  Epaphras  be- 
came pastor  of  the  little  flock  which  was  speedily 
gathered  together.  It  was  not  long  before  Philemon 
gave  his  own  son  Archippus  to  the  ministry. 

The  religious  ties  binding  together  the  Apostle 
and  his  wealthy  convert  never  slackened  despite 
the  lapse  of  time  and  the  great  distance  which 
separated  them.  Paul  was  ever  zealous  for  his 
friend's  religious  growth  and  prosperity  as  is  seen 
in  his  both  beginning  and  ending  his  letter  with  a 
benediction  in  the  name  of  their  common  Lord  and 
Master.  Paul  also  expressed  his  great  joy  over  the 
splendid  reports  he  has  heard  of  his  friend's  conse- 
cration to  Christ  and  generosity  to  his  poorer  fellow 
Christians,  and  wished  for  him  prosperity  in  every 


230  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

good  thing  "which  was  in  him  in  Jesus  Christ." 
He  also  declared  that  he  made  mention  of  Philemon 
in  all  his  prayers,  and  had  great  faith  in  his  friend's 
prayers  in  his  own  behalf;  and  that  through  them 
"he  should  be  given  to  him." 

The  ties  of  mutual  love  which  welded  the  hearts 
of  these  two  men  as  one,  were  no  less  beautiful  and 
tender  than  the  religious  ones  which  bound  them 
together  in  holiest  associations  and  memories.  Paul 
called  Philemon  his  "brother"  and  his  "dearly  be- 
loved;" and  while,  as  his  former  pastor  and  spiritual 
father,  he  "might  be  bold  in  Christ  to  enjoin  what 
was  convenient,  yet  for  love's  sake"  he  merely 
makes  request  for  what  he  desired.  Again  he  de- 
clared what  great  "joy  and  consolation"  he  had  in 
Philemon's  love;  and  toward  the  close  of  the  letter 
did  not  hesitate  to  ask  his  friend  to  prepare  a 
"lodging"  for  him  against  his  release,  knowing  this 
would  be  esteemed  as  great  a  privilege  and  joy  for 
Philemon  as  it  would  for  himself  to  accept  the  hos- 
pitality. It  would  appear  from  this  request  that  of 
all  Paul's  friends,  this  was  the  one  he  was  planning 
to  visit  first  in  the  event  of  his  release  at  Rome. 

Everyw^here  in  his  letter,  whether  speaking  of 
himself  or  interceding  for  Onesimus,  Paul  reveals 
the  most  delicate  feeling  on  his  own  part,  and  the 
most  courteous  deference  for  the  position  and  feel- 
ings of  Philemon.  He  unhesitatingly  laid  aside  his 
own  desire  to  retain  Onesimus  w^ith  him  in  Rome 
where  his  services  had  become  so  needful  to  his 
personal  comfort.     "But,"  he  wrote,  "without  thy 


PHILEMON  231 

mind  would  I  do  nothing,  that  thy  benefit  should 
not  be  as  it  were  of  necessity,  but  willingly." 

Now  a  private  letter  of  the  best  kind  not  only 
reveals  to  us  the  character  and  heart  of  the  writer 
as  this  does  St.  Paul's,  but  it  also  unconsciously 
reveals  the  personality  of  the  correspondent,  or,  at 
any  rate,  the  writer's  conception  of  his  friend's 
character  and  love  for  himself.  So  it  is  in  this  letter. 
Every  word  Paul  wrote  about  his  own  love  assumed 
and  presupposed  an  equally  ardent  affection  on 
Philemon's  part.  Every  request  he  made,  presup- 
posed Philemon's  happiness  in  granting  it.  Every 
unspoken  wish  showed  confidence  that  Philemon 
would  hasten  to  meet  his  utmost  expectations. 

What  a  friendship,  then,  was  this,  each  friend 
finding  such  happiness  in  the  other's  love,  such  joy 
in  self  denial  for  the  other's  sake,  such  eagerness  to 
anticipate  the  other's  wishes.  What  a  versatile, 
what  a  master  friend  was  Paul — one  in  heart  and 
feelings  with  a  poor  fugitive  slave,  one  in  heart  and 
feelings  with  a  wealthy  slaveholder.  And  not  only 
that,  but  one  who,  in  the  name  of  this  double  friend- 
ship and  the  faith  of  all  three  men  in  a  common 
Lord,  dare  raise  the  hammer  of  loving  counsel  and 
entreaty  to  shatter  the  bondman's  chains  and  with 
the  same  stroke  weld  in  the  bonds  of  brotherhood 
and  affection  the  hearts  of  master  and  slave.  And 
thus  a  triple  friendship  arose  which  was  yet  one — 
the  friendship  of  Paul  and  Philemon,  of  Paul  and 
Onesimus,  and  of  Onesimus  and  Philemon;  and  all 


232  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

three  friends  one  in  Jesus  Christ,  freemen  alike  in 
him,  and  yet  all  servants  and  fellow  laborers  in  the 
bonds  of  the  all-emancipating  Gospel. 

V 

Notable  Features  of  Paul's  Letter  to  Philemon 

Perhaps  most  of  the  notable  features  of  Paul's 
letter  to  Philemon  have  already  been  touched  upon, 
but  so  remarkable  are  some  of  them  that  their  re- 
capitulation or  summary  deserves  a  brief  section 
by  itself. 

Of  the  twenty-seven  books  of  the  New  Testament, 
eight  are  addressed  to  individuals, — Luke,  Acts,  1st 
and  2nd  Timothy,  Titus,  2nd  and  3rd  John,  and 
this  letter  of  Paul  to  Philemon.  Of  these  eight,  Luke 
and  Acts  are  manifestly  public  documents  and  so 
intended  to  be;  the  two  letters  to  Timothy  and  the 
one  to  Titus,  while  in  the  form  of  private  commu- 
nications, are  yet  mainly  occupied  with  official  in- 
structions; 2nd  John  is  addressed  to  an  ''elect  lady 
and  her  children,"  by  which  was  probably  meant 
some  church  or  group  of  Christians.  This  leaves  in 
all  Scripture  but  Philemon  and  3rd  John  as  personal 
letters  in  the  strictest  sense  of  the  term;  so  Phile- 
mon shares  with  Gains  the  unique  distinction  and 
honor  of  having  an  entirely  private  letter  written 
them  by  a  friend,  become  a  part  of  the  world's  treas- 
ured literature  and  inspired  Scripture. 

Look  at  this  letter  to  Philemon  how  we  may,  it  is 
a  remarkable  piece  of  writing.  It  tells  us  all  we 
know  about  Philemon  himself,   and   most  that  we 


PHILEMON  233 

kno-w  about  Onesiraus.  Now  suppose  it  fell  into  the 
hands  of  some  one  who  had  never  heard  of  St.  Paul, 
how  easy  it  would  then  be  for  him  not  only  to  get  a 
graphic  conception  of  the  personality  and  condition 
of  both  Onesimus  and  his  master,  but  also  to  recon- 
struct the  essential  points  of  Paul's  own  character. 

Let  us  see  what  would  be  the  picture  of  Paul  and 
his  outward  circumstances  that,  just  from  this  let- 
ter only,  such  a  man  would  form.  He  would  see  him 
as  an  old  man  somewhere  lodged  in  prison  and  in 
actual  bonds  because  of  his  unswerving  loyalty  to 
Jesus  Christ.  He  would  see  by  his  side  Epaphras,  a 
man  equally  devoted  to  Christ  and  undergoing  like 
bonds.  He  would  see  Paul  still  laboring  for  his 
Lord  despite  his  chains;  and  grouped  about  him  as 
fellow  laborers  and  personal  friends,  Mark,  Luke, 
Aristarchus,  and  Demas.  He  would  see  a  man  who 
passionately  loved  his  friends  and  craved  a  like 
affection  on  their  part;  a  man  who  knew  no  social 
distinctions  either  in  his  love  or  religion;  a  man  of 
fearless  courage  in  writing  to  a  slaveholder  of  his 
duty  to  the  lowly,  but  of  utmost  courtesy,  in  making 
known  his  wishes;  a  man  who  could  forget  his  own 
galling  bonds  in  his  solicitude  for  the  welfare  of  a 
slave ;  a  man  who  could  forget  his  own  need  of  min- 
istrations that  he  might  not  trespass  on  the  rights 
of  another,  even  though  that  other  was  under  deep 
obligations  to  himself;  a  man  of  masterly  power  of 
argument,  yet  of  utmost  delicacy  and  tact  in  veiling 
it  under  the  guise  and  in  the  language  of  beseeching 
love;  in  fact,  a  man  who  shows  he  had  every  instinct 


234  SAINT  PAUL'S  FEIENDSHIPS 

of  the  truest  gentleman  and  highest  breeding ;  a  man 
who  never  forgot  to  pray  for  his  friends  by  name, 
imploring  for  them  the  noblest  graces  of  the  Chris- 
tian life;  a  man  who  believed  in  the  efficacy  of  the 
prayers  of  his  friends  and  rejoiced  in  the  hope  of 
again  seeing  them  face  to  face;  and,  withal,  a  man 
who  knew  that  no  true  friend  will  ever  avail  him- 
self of  all  of  his  rights,  and,  on  the  other  hand,  that 
every  true  friend  will  rejoice  to  grant  the  other's 
wishes,  that  friendship  imposes  obligations  a  true 
friend  will  gladly  meet  without  being  pressed. 

And  how  easy  it  is  also  to  obtain  a  graphic  con- 
ception of  Onesimus.  Unconverted,  longing  for  free- 
dom, he  deserts  and  defrauds  his  master  and  flees 
from  Colossae  to  Rome  and  there  joins  Paul.  In  dill 
truthfulness,  however,  he  reports  the  noble  Christian 
character  of  the  man  he  has  deserted.  He  attaches 
himself  to  the  aged  prisoner,  St.  Paul,  and  makes 
himself  well  nigh  indispensable  as  a  personal  attend- 
ant. He  is  converted  and  Paul  clasps  him  to  his 
heart  as  a  son  begotten  in  his  old  age.  He  confesses 
he  is  runaway  slave  who  has  wronged  his  master. 
Paul's  heart  is  broken  at  the  thought  of  separation, 
but  urges  it  as  a  Christian  duty  for  him  to  return 
to  his  master.  He  is  a  free  man  in  Christ  Jesus,  self- 
sacrifice  has  become  his  new  law,  so  he  makes  the 
supreme  oblation  and  goes  back  to  his  life  of  bond- 
age. 

The  picture  of  the  character,  position,  and  person- 
ality of  Philemon  is  equally  striking  and  complete; 


PHILEMON  235 

but    perhaps    that    has    been    already    sufficiently 
sketched  so  that  we  need  not  redraw  it. 

When  I  contemplate  all  these  things,  and  consider 
also  how  much  I  have  written  about  this  friendship 
of  Paul  and  Philemon,  and  then  turn  to  the  letter 
itself  and  see  how  brief  it  is — only  twenty-five 
verses,  less  than  a  single  page  in  an  ordinary-sized 
Bible — I  am  simply  astounded  that  even  the  Apostle 
Paul  could  pack  so  much  in  so  small  space.  And 
though  I  have  written  so  much  about  what  he  wrote 
so  little,  yet  not  all  its  depths  have  been  plumbed, 
not  all  its  hights  scaled,  nor  its  beauty  limned,  nor 
its  riches  garnered.  Nor  can  these  things  ever  be 
done  for  this  letter  is  more  than  a  letter,  it  is  a 
section  of  the  very  heart  of  him  whose  heart  blended 
two  master  passions, — love  for  Jesus  Christ,  and  love 
for  his  friends. 


CHAPTER  XV 

Tychicus — Minister  of  Christ  and  Messenger  of  St. 
Paul 


Our  knowledge  of  the  career  of  Tychicus  is  based 
upon  the  following  passages: — Acts  20:4,  Eph. 
6:21-22,  Col.  4:7-9,  2nd  Tim.  4:12,  and  Titus  3  :12. 


THIS  friend  of  St.  Paul's  is  named  in  five 
books  of  the  New  Testament:  Acts, 
Ephesians,  Colossians,  2nd  Timothy,  and 
Titus.  In  every  instance  he  is  either 
journeying  with  Paul  or  on  a  journey  or  about  to 
commence  one  as  his  messenger. 

I 

Who  Tychicus  Was 

He  was  a  native  of  Asia  Minor  and  probably  a 
citizen  of  Ephesus.  We  infer  the  latter  fact  as  he 
is  first  mentioned  along  with  Trophimus  as  an  in- 
habitant of  Asia;  and  later  we  are  told  that  Tro- 
phimus was  an  Ephesian,  hence  it  is  fair  to  conclude 
that  Tychicus  was  also,  and  that  the  two  men  were 
converted   by    the   preaching   of   Paul    during    his 

236 


TYCHICUS  237 

three  years'  pastorate  in  their  home  city.  In  PaTiFs 
letters  to  the  Ephesians  and  Colossians  he  speaks  of 
Tychieus  as  a  "faithful  minister  in  the  Lord,"  so  it 
is  evident  that  soon  after  his  conversion  he  began  to 
devote  all  his  time  to  evangelistic  work.  When  we 
are  first  introduced  to  him  we  find  him  as  one  of  the 
seven  friends  of  Paul  who  are  accompanying  him 
back  to  Asia  after  his  second  mission  to  Europe,  as 
he  was  turning  his  face  once  more,  and  for  the  last 
time,  toward  Jerusalem. 

This  presupposes  that  Tychieus  had  left  Ephesus 
with  Paul,  or  joined  him  a  little  later,  and  labored 
with  him  in  his  second  tour  of  Macedonia  and 
Greece.  Quite  a  large  party  of  friends  accompanied 
Paul  all  the  way  on  that  long,  foreboding,  final  trip 
to  Jerusalem.  Trophimus  was  of  their  number,  but 
whether  Tychieus  went  all  the  way  or  not  we  are 
unable  to  say. 

n 

Tychieus  as  a  Trusted  Messenger 

Tychieus  appears  three  times  in  the  letters  of  Paul 
as  his  trusted  messenger ;  and  this  is  his  one  eminent 
service  to  Christ  and  Christianity  of  which  we  have 
any  record.  His  personal  relation  to  Paul  was  one 
of  love  and  unswerving  devotion  and  loyalty;  his 
outward  relation,  that  of  traveling  over  seas  and 
continents  ever  carrying  the  Apostle  *s  dispatches 
to  distant  parts  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ  over  which 
the  Apostle  was,  so  to  speak,  a  kind  of  vice-gerent. 


238  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 


The  First  Mission  of  Tychicus 

Tychicus  did  not  accompany  Paul  to  Rome — only 
Luke  and  Aristarchus  having  done  so  far  as  we 
know — but  he  did  join  him  there  sometime  after  his 
arrival.  The  fidelity  of  those  of  Paul's  friends  who 
underwent  the  fatigue  and  expense  of  the  long 
journey  from  the  East  to  Rome,  and  the  courage 
which  inspired  them  to  do  this  and  attach  themselves 
inseparably  to  the  cause  and  person  of  an  Imperial 
prisoner,  has  never  been  sufficiently  recognized. 
And  Tychicus  was  among  the  number  of  that  small, 
heroic,  immortal  band. 

The  circumstances  leading  to  his  first  mission  for 
Paul  were  as  follows:  Epaphras,  the  pastor  of  the 
Colossian  church,  came  to  Rome  to  consult  the 
Apostle  about  the  disturbing  doctrines  which  were 
troubling  his  flock.  A  runaway  slave  from  Colossae, 
Onesimus,  had  also  recently  joined  the  Apostle  and 
had  been  converted  by  him.  Paul  determined  at 
once  to  write  a  letter  to  the  Colossian  church,  and 
also  to  return  Onesimus  to  his  master.  Tychicus 
appears  to  have  been  the  Apostle's  amanuensis  in 
this  instance.  As  this  letter  had  to  be  sent  by  some 
trusted  messenger,  it  seemed  to  Paul  a  good  oppor- 
tunity to  dispatch  by  the  same  hand  a  kind  of  circu- 
lar letter  to  the  churches  in  the  province  of  Asia, 
and  particularly  to  the  city  of  Ephesus  where  he  had 
preached  so  long  while  effecting  the  conquest  of 
''all  Asia"  through  the  agency  of  his  lieutenants, 


TYCHICUS  239 

such  as  Epaphras,  Timothy,  and  others.  So  he  also 
dictated  to  Tychicus  the  letter  now  known  as  his 
Epistle  to  the  Ephesians.  The  letters  written,  the 
next  question  was,  who  should  carry  them  to  their 
destination. 

This  was  a  point  of  no  little  moment.  The  journey 
was  long  and  attended  with  some  hazard.  But 
aside  from  that,  there  was  needed  a  man  who  could 
not  only  carry  a  written  message  safely,  but  also 
one  who  could  convey  with  tact  and  accuracy  oral 
greetings,  instructions,  and  counsels;  and  one,  com- 
petent also  to  deal  with  the  disturbances  at  Colossae, 
and  likewise  to  comfort  the  hearts  of  all  believers. 

Who  then  should  Paul  send  on  this  mission  of 
such  importance?  This  might  first  be  answered  by 
a  counter-question — Did  Paul  have  much  oppor- 
tunity for  choice  in  a  messenger?  who  were  with 
him  at  the  time?  This  question  can  be  readily 
answered,  at  least  with  sufficient  fulness.  As  we 
learn  from  his  letter  to  the  Colossians  and  the  greet- 
ings in  his  letter  to  Philemon,  there  were  with  him 
at  the  time  in  Rome,  Epaphras,  Mark,  Aristarchus, 
Demas,  Luke,  Timothy,  Tychicus,  and  Onesimus. 
The  latter  he  was  about  to  return  to  his  master,  so  it 
was  necessary  to  send  along  some  one  else  to  visit 
the  churches  and  bring  back  to  Rome  a  report  of 
their  condition.  Whom  should  he  send?  Surely 
there  was  here  a  wide  opportunity  for  selection. 
His  decision  fell  on  Tychicus.  While  this  was  in  no 
sense  a  depreciation  of  the  merits  of  the  others,  all 
of  whom  were  useful  to  him  in  Rome,  yet  it  was  the 


240  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

highest  kind  of  testimony  to  his  confidence  in  the 
trustworthiness  of  Tychicus.  So  he  was  dispatched 
to  Ephesus  with  Paul's  letter  for  that  church  and 
the  other  churches  in  the  vicinity,  which  letter  con- 
tains these  words  about  the  bearer  himself:  ''But 
that  ye  also  may  know  my  affairs,  and  how  I  do, 
Tychicus,  a  beloved  brother  and  faithful  minister  in 
the  Lord,  shall  make  known  to  you  all  things :  whom 
I  have  sent  unto  you  for  the  same  purpose,  that  ye 
might  know  our  affairs,  and  that  he  might  comfort 
your  hearts." 

Accompanied  by  Onesimus,  Tychicus  went  on  to 
Colossae  and  delivered  to  that  church  an  epistle  in 
which  Paul  again  spoke  of  him  in  almost  exactly 
the  same  terms  as  in  the  letter  to  the  Ephesians: 
''All  my  state  shall  Tychicus  declare  unto  you,  who 
is  a  beloved  brother,  and  a  faithful  minister  and 
fellow  servant  in  the  Lord:  whom  I  have  sent  unto 
you  for  the  same  purpose,  that  he  might  know  your 
estate,  and  comfort  your  hearts;  with  Onesimus,  a 
faithful  and  beloved  brother,  who  is  one  of  you. 
They  shall  make  known  unto  you  all  things  which 
are  done  here." 

2 

The  Second  Mission  of  Tychicus 

Of  this  we  know  next  to  nothing.  In  fact,  we  do 
not  even  know  for  a  certainty  that  he  was  actually 
sent ;  but  we  do  know  Paul  was  contemplating  send- 
ing him  or  Artemas  to  Crete  as  soon  as  Titus  had 
somewhat  composed  matters  there,  so  that  he  could 


TYCHICUS  241 

be  spared  to  join  the  Apostle  as  Nicopolis.  This 
was,  as  we  have  elsewhere  assumed,  during  Paul's 
brief  period  of  release  between  his  first  and  second 
imprisonments  at  Rome. 

Though  we  lose  sight  of  Tychicus  at  Colossae 
where  some  time  previously  he  faithfully  delivered 
Paul's  letter,  it  is  evident  that  he  had  fulfilled  that 
mission  to  the  Apostle's  satisfaction;  that  he  is 
again,  or  rather  still,  under  the  Apostle's  direction 
as  to  his  labors  and  movements,  and  now  stands 
ready  to  go  to  Crete,  if  that  shall  appear  best  to 
his  leader,  as  soon  as  Titus  deems  it  safe  and  advis- 
able to  take  his  departure  therefrom. 

3 

The  Third  Mission  of  Tychicus 

Whether  or  not  Tychicus  ever  undertook  the  con- 
templated mission  to  Crete,  there  is  no  question 
whatever  about  his  last  recorded  service  as  the 
trusted  messenger  of  the  Apostle. 

Paul  had  again  been  arrested  and  thrown  into 
chains  in  a  Roman  dungeon.  The  tragic  end  was 
now  a  certainty.  But  the  faithful  Tychicus  was 
again  at  his  side,  loyal,  unafraid,  ready  to  do  his 
bidding.  Demas  had  forsaken  him ;  Crescens  he  had 
sent  to  Galatia,  and  Titus  to  Dalmatia.  Timothy 
was  in  Ephesus,  and  Mark  somewhere  in  the  East, 
probably  in  Asia  Minor.  The  aged,  doomed  Apostle 
yearns  for  the  solace  of  the  presence  and  love  of 
Mark  and  Timothy.  It  did  not  seem  possible  that 
Timothy  could  be  spared  from  his  important  and 


242  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

critical  work  at  Ephesus.  Yet  Paul's  heart  would 
break  unless  he  could  clasp  to  his  breast  once  more 
his  beloved  son  Timothy.  By  his  side  at  this  time 
were  only  Luke  the  beloved  physician,  and  Tychicus 
the  trusted  messenger.  Luke  he  could  not  spare, — 
but  Tychicus?  He  also  was  a  *' beloved  brother, '^ 
but  he  was  not  Timothy,  he  was  not  PauFs  ''own 
son,*' — and  only  a  son's  face  could  cheer  a  dying 
father. 

''Tychicus,"  it  is  the  trembling  voice  of  the  aged 
Paul  that  speaks,  "wilt  thou  make  one  final  sacri- 
fice for  me,  wilt  thou  go  to  Ephesus  and  let  my  boy, 
my  son  Timothy,  come  here  to  cheer  my  dying 
hours?" 

Tychicus  is  silent.  He  had  hoped  and  belie\ed 
that  that  supreme  privilege  and  sacred  joy  was  to  be 
his  own.  He  averts  his  face.  His  frame  is  shaken 
by  his  choking  emotions,  his  struggle  between  love 
and  sacrifice. 

"Art  silent,  Tychicus,  the  sacrifice — is  it  asking 
too  much  even  of  thee?" 

"Nay,  nay,  my  beloved  master,  I  will  go  for  thee. 
Thou  shalt  clasp  thy  boy  to  thy  heart  once  more." 
And  Tychicus  was  gone,  gone  on  his  last  mission  for 
his  dying  friend,  gone  out  from  his  presence  to  see 
his  face  no  more  on  earth.     He  did  what  he  could. 

For  a  time  both  Luke  and  Paul  are  silent.  They 
gaze  at  Tychicus 's  empty  chair.  ''Aye,  here  was  a 
man  and  a  hero"  is  at  length  Luke's  simple  com- 
ment. "Yea,"  answers  an  aged  man  with  whitened 
head,  "and  I  shall  see  his  face  no  more."     Then  he 


TYCHICUS  243 

seizes  his  pen  and  writes  in  rapturous  anxiety  to 
Timothy  his  faraway  child — ''Tychicus  have  I  sent 
to  Ephesus  .  .  .  For  I  am  now  ready  to  be 
offered,  and  the  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand 
.  .  .  Do  thy  diligence  to  come  shortly  unto  me 
.  .  .  Take  Mark,  and  bring  him  with  thee  .  .  . 
Do  thy  diligence  to  come  before  winter." 

m 

Tychicus  the  Man,  and  the  Value  to  Christianity  of 
His  Friendship  with  St.  Paul 

Though  Tychicus  was  a  minister  of  Christ  there 
stands  to  his  credit  no  record  of  a  church  founded, 
or  sermon  preached,  or  convert  won.  But  if  we 
have  no  great  original  message  from  his  heart  and 
lips,  yet  we  do  have  two  immortal  writings  which  his 
pen  traced  at  the  dictation  of  another,  which  he  bore 
safely  to  their  destination  over  hundreds  of  leagues 
of  sea  and  land,  and  through  them,  being  dead,  he 
yet  speaketh.  Not  a  great  man  perhaps,  but  he  also 
did  what  he  could ;  he  was  faithful  to  every  respon- 
sibility entrusted  to  him,  and  he  was  a  comfort  to 
the  believers  of  his  day. 

Unobtrusive,  unassuming,  totally  void  of  all  self- 
seeking  and  selfglorifying,  willing  to  decrease  if 
only  his  friend  Paul  and  the  cause  for  which  they 
mutually  stood  might  increase,  he  did  his  work  as 
it  came  to  him  and  served  his  generation  and  all 
Christianity  with  such  powers  as  he  had.  He  was 
a  man  who  had  rather  be  a  doorkeeper  in  the  house 
of  his  God  than  to  dwell  in  the  tents  of  wickedness, 


244  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

who  rather  be  a  courier  of  St.  Paul  than  Prime  Min- 
ister of  Nero.  His  name  will  forever  be  written 
among  those  who  were  faithful  in  little  things,  and 
some  day  shall  be  ruler  over  many  things.  If  he 
could  not  fight  in  the  forefront  of  the  battle  like 
Mark  and  Titus,  yet  he  could  carry  dispatches  upon 
which  hung  the  fate  of  many  battles. 

He  was  one  of  those  many  young  men  like  Arte- 
mas,  Secundas,  Trophimus,  and  Aristarchus,  who 
would  never  have  been  heard  of  had  not  the  giant 
heart  of  the  great  Apostle  magnetized  them  with  the 
lofty  passions  of  his  own  soul,  lifted  them  to  the 
hights  of  his  own  sublime  faith  and  courage,  and 
then  hurled  them  eager  and  unafraid  against  the 
powers  of  evil  with  that  torch  of  truth  which  shall 
yet  illumine  all  the  dark  places  of  the  earth. 

But  though  Tychicus  always  labored  under  the 
direction  of  Paul  and,  like  many  another  loyal 
friend  of  the  Apostle,  is  completely  obscured  and 
overshadowed  by  the  towering  ability  and  fame  of 
his  leader,  yet  we  would  greatly  err  were  we  to 
adjudge  him  a  man  of  inferior  or  merely  ordinary 
talent.  St.  Paul  made  no  such  mistake.  He  re- 
joiced in  having  such  a  man  by  his  side,  not  only 
that  he  might  carry  dispatches,  but  also  that  he 
might  personally  represent  himself  and  speak  in  his 
name  and  clothed  with  his  authority  in  the  great 
churches  at  Ephesus  and  Colossae;  and  also,  as 
seems  probable,  in  many  other  churches  in  the  prov- 
ince of  Asia,  and  perhaps  in  Crete  as  well. 


TYCHICUS  245 

Thus  by  means  of  his  friendship  with  Tychicus, 
as  by  means  of  all  his  many  other  friendships,  the 
Apostle  multiplied  his  presence  and  personality 
while  still  in  the  flesh,  and  also  continued  his  life 
work  after  he  had  been  summoned  into  the  presence 
of  his  Maker. 

Of  Paul's  tender  affection  for  Tychicus  little  need 
be  added.  He  ever  spoke  of  him  as  his  ''beloved 
brother, ' '  and  honored  him  with  that  patent  of  nobil- 
ity which  he  conferred  upon  none  other  of  his 
friends  save  Epaphras  only — that  of  being  a  ''fellow 
servant "  or  "  fellow  slave ' '  with  himself  in  the  Mas- 
ter's  work.  If  Paul  so  judged  of  the  importance  of 
Tychicus 's  services  to  Christ,  surely  no  man  dare 
venture  to  give  him  lower  rank. 

Neither  Paul  nor  the  early  church  could  have 
dispensed  with  him,  and  we  could  ill  spare  the 
simple  record  of  his  loving  services  and  self-forget- 
ting faithfulness. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Onesiphorus — A  Friend  Who  Was  Not  Ashamed  of 
Paul's  Chain 


Our  knowledge  of  the  career  of  Onesiphorus  is 
based  upon  the  following  passages: — 2nd  Timothy 
1:16-18,  and  4:19. 


OUR  individual  studies  of  Paul's  friends  are 
drawing  to  a  close:  we  shall  gaze  upon 
the  faintly  etched  portrait  of  but  one 
more,  yet  one  that  must  not  be  passed  by 
too  hurriedly,  that  of  Onesiphorus — "a  friend  who 
was  not  ashamed  of  Paul's  chain."  Our  knowledge 
of  this  man  who  took  his  religion  with  him  when  he 
took  a  journey,  is  confined  to  a  single  short  letter  of 
Paul's,  his  second  to  Timothy.  Even  in  this  only 
four  verses  refer  to  Onesiphorus,  and  the  portrait 
itself  is  etched  in  three.  The  whole  biography  is 
condensed  into  sixty-one  words.  But  what  a  flam- 
ing beacon  are  they.  What  a  torch  of  undimming 
lustre  the  heroic  character  there  immortally  drawn. 
Its  value  to  the  world  is  more  than  that  of  many 
volumes  written  about  some  men. 

246 


ONESIPHORUS  247 

Whether  or  not  Onesiphorus  was  one  of  the  minor 
friends  of  St.  Paul,  we  cannot  with  certainty  answer. 
We  catch  but  a  dissolving  view  of  his  personality 
through  the  grateful  memory  and  passing  allusions 
of  a  doomed  man;  but  this  dissolving  view  makes 
the  entire  New  Testament  richer,  for  it  renews  and 
enriches  our  faith  in  our  common  humanity  by  giv- 
ing us  a  fleeting  glimpse  of  one  of  humanity's  noblest 
types — a  man  of  heroic  mold,  and  a  friend  of  death- 
less loyalty.  It  garlands  the  brow  of  friendship 
with  new  and  unfading  laurels.  It  pays  one  more 
tribute  to  Paul's  genius  for  friendship,  reveals 
another  link  in  that  chain  of  gold  that  fettered  the 
hearts  of  men  to  his  heart  in  the  freedom  of  a  joy- 
ous bondage. 

I 
**Such  a  One  as  Paul  the  Aged  " 

The  door  of  a  Roman  dungeon  swings  creakingly 
open,  we  peer  into  its  murky  depths.  At  first  the 
gloom  is  impenetrable.  We  tarry  at  the  threshold 
till  our  eyes  gradually  become  accustomed  to  the 
darkness,  and  at  length  we  faintly  discern  the 
shadowy  outlines  of  three  human  forms.  Two  of 
these  stand  upright — they  are  Roman  soldiers.  We 
look  closer,  the  third  man  rivets  our  attention,  his 
form  is  bowed,  his  head  whitened,  his  face  marred 
and  seamed  beyond  the  sons  of  men, — he  is  **such  a 
one  as  Paul  the  aged."  We  see  him  lift  a  hand  to 
that  weary  brow,  a  chain  clanks,  it  is  shackled  to  his 
wrist.    And  there  the  most  kingly  man  of  his  gen- 


248  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

eration  sits  alone — his  only  companions  those  mailed 
men  who  are  keeping  the  ''death  watch." 

But  why  is  this  prisoner  there,  and  why  is  he 
alone?  He  is  there  because  he  has  not  counted  his 
life  dear  unto  himself  so  that  he  might  accomplish 
his  course  and  the  ministry  which  he  received  of  the 
Lord  Jesus,  to  testify  the  Gospel  of  the  grace  of  God. 
But  why  is  he  alone  in  this  supreme  and  crisis  hour  ? 
Has  he  no  friends  to  sit  with  him  in  the  valley  of  the 
shadow?  Yes — some.  Where  are  they  then?  Well, 
the  work  which  was  dearer  unto  him  than  his  own 
life  was  not  going  well  in  all  parts  of  the  vast  empire 
he  has  conquered  for  his  Lord;  and  so  he  has  sent 
Crescens  to  Galatia,  Titus  to  Dalmatia,  and  Tychicus 
to  Ephesus. 

But  that  accounts  for  but  three,  surely  this  man 
has  other  friends,  where  are  they?  Some  of  them 
we  know  were  about  their  necessary  duties.  Luke 
is  with  him  most  or  all  of  the  time,  but  Timothy  is 
busy  in  his  pastorate  at  Ephesus  and  Mark  on  a  mis- 
sion probably  in  Asia  Minor.  Phygellus  and  Her- 
mogenes  and  a  few  others  of  Asia  in  whom  he 
trusted  have  turned  away  from  him  because  he  is  a 
condemned  man,  his  life  forfeited,  and  almost  any 
day  may  prove  his  last.  But  what  of  all  the  Chris- 
tians in  the  great  church  here  in  Rome  to  whom 
years  ago  he  wrote  that  long  letter  pouring  out  his 
heart's  longing  to  see  them  face  to  face?  Some  of 
these  are  still  in  touch  with  him  such  as  Eubulus, 
Pudens,  Linus,  and  Claudia.  But  it  is  better  now 
for  the  peace  of  the  church  that  most  of  the  Roman 


ONESIPHORUS  249 

Christians  should  hold  somewhat  aloof  from  this 
extremest  in  the  cause  of  Christ. 

But  look!  What  new  thought  is  now  piercing 
that  heart  and  contracting  that  furrowed  face? 
Read  those  pitiless  thoughts.  Listen  and  you  shall 
overhear  a  soul's  silent  anguish,  you  shall  hear  its 
wordless  woe — ''At  my  first  defense,  no  one  took  my 
part,  but  all  forsook  me.  Demas — Demas  too  hath 
forsaken  me."  A  shudder  shakes  that  shrunken 
form,  a  broken  sob,  then  all  is  still  once  more  save 
the  clanking  of  a  chain.  The  cell  door  is  closed,  we 
pass  hence.  The  prisoner  is  left  alone  with  the 
death  watch  and — his  thoughts. 

Night  comes  on.  The  prisoner  sinks  into  exhausted 
and  troubled  slumber.  He  dreams  of  other  days  that 
have  been,  of  other  days  that  shall  be,  and  sighs  for 
his  release — a  release  which  any  hour  may  bring. 
Suddenly  he  is  aroused  by  clattering  feet  in  the 
corridor  outside,  a  key  turns  quickly  in  the  door. 
It  must  be  soldiers  to  lead  him  forth  to  his  execution, 
he  struggles  to  his  feet,  ''I  am  ready,"  he  feebly 
cries.  ''Paul,  Paul,  do  you  not  know  me?"  rings 
out  on  the  midnight  air.  Who,  what  ? — No,  it  cannot 
be. — Yes,  it  is,  it  is.  It  is  Onesiphorus  of  Ephesus. 
Though  the  axe  is  already  uplifted,  though  some 
men  have  forsaken  him,  though  death  threatens  all 
who  dare  breathe  his  name,  yet  there  is  one  man  left 
in  the  world  besides  Luke  who  "is  not  ashamed  of 
his  chain,"  who  has  sought  him  out  diligently  and 
found  him.  0  Humanity,  thou  wert  on  trial  in  that 
hour,  thy  sentence  was  about  to  be  pronounced, — 


250  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

but  stay!  one  man  has  redeemed  mankind  from 
eternal  infamy.  Humanity  is  absolved  from  that 
unpardonable  crime,  Paul  is  no  longer  alone,  Onesi- 
phorus  has  gained  his  side  before  the  axe  falls.  Let 
the  curtain  drop.  The  hour  and  place  are  too  sacred 
for  even  the  most  loving  eyes  to  linger,  for  even  the 
tenderest  scrutiny  or  contemplation, 

II 

The  Bravery  and  Loyalty  of  Onesiphorus 

''The  Lord  give  mercy  unto  the  house  of  Onesi- 
phorus; for  he  oft  refreshed  me,  and  was  not 
ashamed  of  my  chain;  but,  when  he  was  in  Rome, 
he  sought  me  out  very  diligently,  and  found  me. ' '  So 
Paul  wrote  to  Timothy  some  days  later  after  Onesi- 
phorus had  already  been  compelled  to  leave  his  side, 
or,  as  some  plausibly  maintain,  had  forfeited  his  life 
because  he  counted  it  not  dear  unto  himself  if  only 
he  could  be  of  service  or  comfort  to  his  heart's 
better  self — Paul,  the  prisoner  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ. 

Bravery  and  loyalty  would  seem  to  be  the  keynote 
to  this  man's  character.  When  Paul  was  already 
sentenced  to  death,  when  weaker  friends  were  falling 
away,  when  it  was  perilous  even  to  know  him,  and 
when  access  to  his  side  was  extremely  difficult,  then 
appears  Onesiphorus  on  the  scene,  learns  in  some 
way  of  Paul's  plight,  and,  scorning  danger,  despis- 
ing the  craven-hearted,  defying  Nero  to  do  his  worst, 
he  overcomes  every  obstacle  that  fear  and  malice 
can   suggest   and   at   last   penetrates   the   Imperial 


ONESIPHORUS  251 

dungeon  and  flies  to  the  arms  of  his  old  friend. 
And  so  in  that  felon  cell  love's  pure  flame  was  once 
more  kindled — and  still  after  nineteen  hundred 
years  we  are  warned  and  gladdened  by  its  heavenly- 
glow. 

What  originally  called  Onesiphorus  to  Rome  we 
<jannot  say,  but  apparently  it  had  nothing  to  do  with 
St.  Paul  or  his  imprisonment.  After  learning  of 
his  condition  it  would  have  been  an  easy  and  pru- 
dent thing  for  Onesiphorus,  and  a  thing  a  man  of 
lesser  loyalty  would  have  done,  to  have  spent  his 
time  in  executing  his  original  mission,  and  then  use 
^ny  spare  moments  in  sightseeing  in  that  vast  and 
bewilderingly  attractive  city.  And  Onesiphorus 
<30uld  have  given  himself  and  the  world  plausible 
excuses  for  not  attempting  to  visit  his  whilom  pastor 
At  Ephesus,  the  aged  Paul,  the  doomed  prisoner  of 
the  Imperial  Court.  He  might  have  salved  his  con- 
science by  pleading  the  impossibility  of  gaining 
access  to  the  condemned  man ;  he  might  have  argued 
the  futility  of  such  a  visit  even  were  it  possible.  He 
might  have  urged  the  folly  of  needlessly  endanger- 
ing his  own  life  and  so  exposing  his  household  to 
the  resultant  suffering. 

But  love  was  stronger  than  death,  loyalty  mightier 
than  prudence — and  the  result,  who  knows?  Paul 
in  writing  of  the  joy  of  this  visit  to  himself  solemnly 
prays  for  ''mercy  unto  the  house  of  Onesiphorus '' — 
would  the  father  never  return  to  gladden  its  portals 
-again?  And  as  the  letter  of  this  aged  pastor  draws 
to  a  close  he  begs  his  beloved  friend  Timothy,  now 


252  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

his  successor  in  the  pastorate  at  Ephesus,  to  ' '  salute 
the  house  of  Onesiphorus ' ' — was  his  heart  in  that 
dank  dungeon,  forgetful  of  its  own  misery,  bleeding 
w^ith  the  sorrow  awaiting  the  home  of  his  former 
parishioners  in  far-off  Ephesus? 

Ill 

Onesiphorus  in  His  Home  Church 

Thus  far  we  have  considered  Onesiphorus  simply 
as  the  friend  of  St.  Paul.  Did  we  know  nothing  else 
about  him  his  fame  would  be  secure,  his  memory 
fragrant.  That  aspect  of  his  character  alone  lifts 
him  to  the  hight  and  rank  of  the  world 's  heroic  men. 
It  gives  him  entry  into  the  fellowship  of  the  su- 
premely brave. 

But  we  have  not  exhausted  this  man's  worth  nor 
our  knowledge  of  the  same,  when  the  last  word  shall 
have  been  spoken  concerning  his  loyalty  to  friend- 
ship's loftiest  ideals.  Paul  remarks  in  his  letter  to 
Timothy  ''in  how  many  things  he  ministered  at 
Ephesus  thou  knowest  very  well."  Here  we  have 
another  and  entirely  new  revelation  of  his  worth  as 
a  man  and  Christian.  The  Revised  Version  correctly 
omits  the  words  ''unto  me"  after  the  word  "min- 
istered. ' ' 

Onesiphorus 's  service  was  to  the  church  and  cause 
of  Christianity  as  a  whole.  Evidently  he  was  one 
of  Paul's  most  efficient  laymen  when  he  was  serving 
the  Ephesian  church.  Three  things  in  this  brief 
reference  of  Paul's  emphasize  our  conception  of  the 
large  place  Onesiphorus  filled  in  his  home  church: 


ONESIPHORUS  253 

the  phrase  *4n  how  many  things,"  proving  various 
talent,  interest,  and  activity;  the  Greek  verb  trans- 
lated '^  ministered "  has  the  same  root  from  which 
is  derived  the  noun  ' '  deacon ; ' '  and,  lastly,  the  phrase 
*Hhou  knowest  very  well"  witnesses  to  the  fact 
that  his  services  were  of  exceptional  merit  and 
prominence. 

IV 
^'The  Light  That  Never  Was  on  Sea  or  Land  " 

Second  Timothy  is  a  sad  letter,  a  letter  of  profound 
contrasts.  It  is  a  letter  where  deepest  gloom  is 
shot  through  with  rays  of  celestial  glory.  It  is  the 
last  message  penned  by  the  hand,  dripping  from  the 
bleeding  heart — of  a  man  who  is  looking  into  his  own 
open  grave.  It  has  in  it,  perhaps,  something  of  the 
pagan's  horror  of  the  grave,  yet  infinitely  more  of 
the  saint's  shout  of  victory.  How  some  of  its  pas- 
sages bring  to  mind  Paul's  own  ringing  words 
written  in  other  years  to  the  church  at  Corinth: 
^'0  death,  where  is  thy  sting?  0  grave,  where  is 
thy  victory?  ....  Thanks  be  to  God,  which 
giveth  us  the  victory  through  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ." 

This  letter  again  has  in  it  the  bitter  cry  of  be- 
trayed confidence,  and  the  unwordable  joy  of  death- 
less loyalty.  In  it  a  few  men  are  bitterly  denounced 
for  their  cowardice  and  pusillanimity,  one  man  only 
is  highly  praised,  and  that  man  is  Onesiphorus.  Un- 
conscious of  any  heroism,  without  any  pose  or 
thought  of  self,  this  man  by  his  brave  act  cheered 


254  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

the  dying  hours  of  the  greatest  man  whose  form 
ever  bowed  beneath  the  world's  burdens,  whose 
heart  ever  broke  for  the  world's  sins  and  ingratitude. 
His  visit  to  Paul  in  his  last  hours,  in  his  extremity 
of  anguish,  was  for  Paul  what  Mary's  anointing  of 
Christ  was  for  him,  a  touch  of  human  tenderness 
and  devotion  that  gave  strength  for  sacrifice, — 
Paul's  giving  his  life  for  his  mission,  Christ's  giving^ 
his  life  for  the  world.  These  gifts,  these  supreme 
sacrifices  of  Paul  and  Christ,  were  not  wholly  vain, 
at  least  one  heart  was  loyal  to  the  last,  at  least  one 
soul  understood. 

And  Onesiphorus 's  reward?  Ah,  he  was  not 
thinking  of  that.  One  glance  into  Paul's  seamed — 
nay,  transfigured  face,  that  was  enough  for  him,  and 
will  be  through  the  ages  to  come.  But  another  has 
said,  one  greater  than  Onesiphorus,  yea,  greater  than 
Onesiphorus 's  beloved  friend  himself — "Verily  I  say 
unto  you,  inasmuch  as  ye  have  done  it  unto  one  of 
the  least  of  these  my  brethren,  ye  have  done  it  unto 
me. ' '  And  so  this  man  from  far-off  Ephesus  who  in 
Imperial  Rome  itself  would  not  let  a  dungeon's  walls 
nor  Nero's  murderous  frown  keep  him  from  Paul's 
death  watch,  shall  in  eternity  be  linked  in  compan- 
ionship and  reward  with  him  who  was  the  greatest 
of  the  Apostles — so  saith  he  whose  throne  is  in  the 
heavens,  the  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords. 

And  so  human  friendship  wears  the  seal  and  sanc- 
tion of  the  Infinite,  and  eternity  is  made  tributary 
to  its  fruition  and  joy. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Postscript — A  Last  Glance  at  Christianity's  Imperial 
Friend  and  Empire  Builder 

WE  have  completed  our  individual 
studies  of  PauPs  friends, — sixteen 
in  all.  There  are  some  others  who 
deserve  a  place  in  this  splendid 
galaxy,  but  they  must  be  passed  by.  Before  closing 
the  record  for  good,  however,  let  us  take  a  last 
rapid  survey  of  the  career  of  St.  Paul,  Christianity's 
mightiest  Empire  Builder,  and  note  once  more  the 
imperial  sweep  of  his  achievements  and  the  part 
played  therein  by  his  friends  and  his  genius  for 
friendship. 

Paul  received  his  great  commission  while  praying 
in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  not  long  after  his  con- 
version. In  that  solemn  hour  the  Lord  said  unto 
him — ''Depart:  for  I  will  send  thee  far  hence  unto 
the  Gentiles."  His  ambition  thenceforward  was  to 
be  the  first  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  every  part  of  the 
known  world  where  it  had  not  already  been  heard. 
Hence  years  afterwards,  when  at  Corinth  he  was 
planning  a  journey  into  Spain,  he  could  write  to  the 
church  at  Rome — ''Yea,  so  have  I  striven  to  preach 
the  Gospel,  not  where  Christ  was  named,  lest  I 
should  build  upon  another  man's  foundation." 

To  achieve  his  stupendous  purposes  Paul  always 
made  a   dash  for  the   great  cities  believing,  like 

255 


256  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

Napoleon  eighteen  centuries  later,  that  if  he  once 
gained  possession  of  the  enemy's  Capitol  he  could 
easilj^  win  and  hold  all  the  surrounding  territory. 
So  he  began  his  career  preaching  at  Damascus  and 
Jerusalem,  and  later  on  seized  for  Christ  such 
strongholds  as  Antioch,  Ephesus,  Philippi,  Corinth, 
and  Rome. 

Of  these  many  cities  in  which  he  preached,  three 
were,  for  some  years  in  succession,  his  headquarters 
in  which,  like  a  conquering  General,  he  formulated 
his  vast  plans,  and  from  which  he  went  forth  on  his 
victorious  campaigns.  And  ever  he  moved  steadily 
westward,  as  he  completed  the  conquest  of  the  terri- 
tory in  the  vicinity  of  his  headquarters. 

The  first  Capitol  of  that  ultimately  enormous 
empire  which  he  was  to  claim  and  win  for  Christ, 
was  Antioch  in  Syria.  From  Antioch  he  marched 
forth  with  Barnabas  and  Mark  for  the  conquest  of 
Cyprus  and  Asia  Minor,  and  to  Antioch  he  returned 
at  the  conclusion  of  the  campaign.  Again  he  went 
forth  from  this  Capitol  with  Silas  expecting  to  com- 
plete the  subjugation  of  the  territory  already  over- 
run ;  but  strengthening  his  forces  by  the  addition  of 
Timothy,  he  felt  emboldened  to  push  on  for  the  con- 
quest of  central  and  western  Asia  Minor.  While 
pausing  at  Troas  he  formed  a  junction  with  Luke 
and,  having  been  diverted  from  his  original  designs, 
crossed  over  into  Europe  and  gained  a  foothold  in 
Macedonia  and  Greece. 

Now  again  he  turned  back  to  Antioch,  but  on  the 
way  thither  stopped  a  few  days  at  Ephesus.    Seeing 


POSTSCRIPT  257 

at  a  glance  the  strategic  importance  of  this  location, 
he  promised  as  speedy  a  return  as  possible;  and 
after  having  reported  at  headquarters,  he  made  his 
way  back  to  Ephesus  as  rapidly  as  he  could  con- 
sistently with  the  necessity  of  strengthening  his 
long  line  of  garrisons  between  the  two  cities.  Ar- 
rived at  last  at  Ephesus  he  immediately  made  that 
city  the  new  Capitol  of  the  large  empire  he  had  won 
for  Christ,  which  now  extended  hundreds  of  miles 
west  of  his  original  headquarters ;  that  is,  from  An- 
tioch  in  Syria  to  the  heart  of  Macedonia  and  Greece. 

Here  Paul  settled  down  for  three  years,  making 
Ephesus  the  hub  in  the  wheel  of  his  extensive  opera- 
tions, while  his  many  friends  as  Generals  and  Field 
Marshals  in  command  of  various  armies  and  citadels 
perfected  the  conquest  of  western  Asia  Minor, 
Macedonia,  and  Greece.  Here  there  labored  with 
him  Aquila  and  Priscilla,  Onesiphorus  and  ApoUos, 
Gains  and  Aristarchus,  Trophimus  and  Titus.  From 
here  he  sent  forth  Timothy  and  Erastus  to  maintain 
his  grip  upon  Macedonia,  and  again  Titus  and  Tim- 
othy to  hold  in  check  the  insurrectionary  Corin- 
thians. From  here  it  is  believed  he  directed  the 
work  of  Epaphras  and  Philemon  in  the  conquest  of 
Colossae,  Hierapolis,  and  Laodicea.  From  here,  too, 
he  himself  set  out  on  his  last  victorious  march 
through  Macedonia  and  Greece. 

But  Paul's  ambition  was  as  boundless  as  that  of 
any  Napoleon  of  Empire  or  of  Industry.  Like  them 
his  restless  spirit  found  no  ease  as  long  as  there 
were  other  realms  to  conquer.     No  past   achieve- 


258  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

ments  could  still  his  ever  ringing  cry — "Forward, 
march!"  And  so  at  length  this  warrior-preacher 
and  Christian  statesman  stood  on  the  eastern  shore 
of  the  Adriatic  sea. 

Watch  him  as  he  stands  there.  He  boldly  declares 
in  the  very  language  of  victory  that  he  has  fully 
preached  the  Gospel  of  Christ  from  Jerusalem  and 
round  about,  up  through  Syria,  across  Asia  Minor, 
over  the  Hellespont,  throughout  Macedonia  and 
Greece  unto  Illyricum,  the  very  foothills  of  the 
northern  Alps.  His  language  has  the  martial  thrill 
of  one  of  Napoleon's  bulletins  to  his  soldiers  after 
some  Austerlitz.  But  watch  the  man,  notice  his  posi- 
tion, look  into  his  eyes,  study  their  fixed  and  en- 
raptured gaze,  lift  up  your  own  eyes  and  witn  the 
vision  of  the  soul  and  imagination  see  what  this 
ever  victorious  soldier  of  the  Cross  sees.  He  is  not 
counting  the  battles  already  won  nor  is  he  athrill 
with  the  memory  of  the  echoing  plaudits  of  his 
triumphs.  He  is  like  Alexander  at  the  Indus,  his 
face  is  forward.  He  is  like  Napoleon  at  Warsaw, 
unconquered  Russia  is  beyond — of  what  satisfaction 
are  past  achievements,  the  lands  and  cities  already 
conquered. 

But  what  does  the  Apostle  see?  Not  conquered 
Antioch  and  Ephesus  and  Corinth,  but  uncon- 
quered Rome  and  Spain  and  "the  regions  beyond." 
The  sun  sinks  low  over  the  Adriatic's  gently  heav- 
ing waters.  Its  last  rays  transfigure  with  celestial 
beauty  the  rugged,  glowing  features  of  the  man 
whose  feet,  pointing  westward,  are  already  dipped 


POSTSCRIPT  259 

into  the  sea.  The  West  is  acalling,  and  a  soul 
aflame  again  hears  a  voice  ''not  heard  by  others." 
He  will  now  make  Imperial  Rome,  the  Eternal  City 
itself,  his  new  headquarters,  whence  he  can  set  on 
foot  the  conquest  of  Spain  and  other  new  campaigns 
for  the  glory  of  his  Lord  and  the  extension  of  his 
kingdom. 

How  thrillingly  he  anticipated  the  carrying  out 
of  his  vast  designs.  Pausing  at  Corinth  after  his 
work  at  Ephesus  was  done  he  boldly  hurled  across 
the  Adriatic  sea  and  over  the  Apennines  into  the  Im- 
perial City  his  fearless  declaration  of  immediate  in- 
vasion and  his  intention  of  making  that  city  his  new 
Capitol,  whence  he  would  march  forth  to  conquer 
the  utmost  West  for  the  Cross  of  Christ.  Here  is 
his  ringing  bulletin  in  his  own  words:  ''Without 
ceasing  I  make  mention  of  you  always  in  my  pray- 
ers ;  making  request,  if  by  any  means  now  at  length 
I  might  have  a  prosperous  journey  by  the  will  of 
God  to  come  unto  you.  ...  As  much  as  in  me 
lies,  I  am  ready  to  preach  the  gospel  to  you  that 
are  at  Rome  also.  For  I  am  not  ashamed  of  the 
gospel  of  Christ:  for  it  is  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth;  to  the  Jew 
first,  and  also  to  the  Greek.  .  .  .  Through 
mighty  signs  and  wonders,  by  the  power  of  the  Spirit 
of  God  .  .  .  from  Jerusalem,  and  round  about 
unto  lUyricum,  I  have  fully  preached  the  gospel  of 
Christ.  Yea,  so  have  I  strived  to  preach  the  gospel, 
not  where  Christ  was  named,  lest  I  should  build 
upon  another  man 's  foundation :  but  as  it  is  written, 


260  SAINT  PAUL'S  FEIENDSHIPS 

To  whom  he  was  not  spoken  of,  they  shall  see:  and 
they  that  have  not  heard  shall  understand.  For 
which  cause  also  I  have  been  much  hindered  from 
coming  to  you.  But  now  having  no  more  place  in 
these  parts,  and  having  a  great  desire  these  many 
years  to  come  unto  you;  whensoever  I  take  my 
journey  into  Spain,  I  will  come  to  you;  for  I  trust 
to  see  you  in  my  journey,  and  to  be  brought  on  my 
way  thitherward  by  you,  if  first  I  be  somewhat 
filled  with  your  company.  For  now  I  go  unto 
Jerusalem  to  minister  unto  the  saints.  For  it  hath 
pleased  them  of  Macedonia  and  Achaia  to  make 
a  certain  contribution  for  the  poor  saints  which  are 
at  Jerusalem.  .  .  .  When,  therefore,  I  have  per- 
formed this,  and  sealed  to  them  this  fruit,  I  will 
come  by  you  into  Spain." 

But  how  has  it  been  possible  for  the  achievements 
of  this  man  in  so  few  years  to  cover  so  widely  and 
so  thoroughly  such  an  immense  territory?  In  pre- 
cisely the  same  way  that  Napoleons  of  Empire  and 
of  Industry  are  able  to  achieve  so  much,  by  choosing 
agents  who  are  everywhere  present,  everywhere 
loyal,  everywhere  accomplishing  their  leader's  will. 
Herein,  then.  Lies  the  secret,  humanly  speaking,  of 
Paul's  masterly  successes.  He  bound  his  friends  to 
himself  and  his  work  heart  and  soul.  These  mul- 
tiplied his  presence  and  personality.  Through  them 
he  was  achieving  results  simultaneously  in  many 
lands  and  cities,  invading  new  territory  and  gar- 
risoning that  already  won. 


POSTSCRIPT  261 

It  will  forever  remain  as  one  of  the  highest  testi- 
monies to  the  greatness  of  Paul  that  he  had  a  genius 
for  discovering  ability  in  other  men,  and  in  attach- 
ing them  to  himself  personally  and  to  that  cause  to 
which  he  was  ever  paying  the  last  full  measure  of 
his  strength  and  devotion.  By  the  sheer  might  of 
his  personality  he  lifted  his  friends  to  his  own 
hight  of  moral  grandeur  and  heroism.  He  so 
breathed  into  their  souls  the  strength  of  his  own 
love  and  the  fire  of  his  own  enthusiasm  that  they 
were  ready  to  do  all  for  him  and  for  his  work  that 
he  would  do  for  them  and  for  that  same  cause.  He 
made  the  master  passion  of  his  life  the  master  pas- 
sion of  their  lives.  Such  a  leader  of  men  was  he 
that  he  molded  them  all  to  fit  into  his  life  purposes, 
and,  directed  by  his  genius,  together  they  wrought 
world-changing  achievements. 

One  of  America's  most  eminent  ''captains  of 
industry  *'  has  publicly  stated  that  he  owed  his  great 
success  in  life  to  the  fact  that  he  had  gotten 
**  smarter '^  men  than  himself  to  work  for  him.  And 
all  know  that  the  success  of  any  President's  admin- 
istration depends  very  largely,  if  not  mainly,  upon 
his  ability  to  discern  ability  in  other  men ;  to  attach 
these  to  himself  personally  and  to  the  policies  he 
represents ;  and  to  so  guide  all  that  they  may  work 
together  well  in  harness,  both  with  one  another  and 
with  himself.  Men  great  individually  have  often 
miserably  failed  for  the  lack  of  such  talent.  The 
world's  history  is  strewed  thick  with  the  wreckage 
of  such  careers.     On  the  other  hand,  men  of  seem- 


262  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

ingly  very  mediocre  abilities  have  turned  the  course 
of  civilization  into  other  and  loftier  channels  by  the 
possession  of  the  talent  to  select,  combine,  inspire, 
and  then  hurl  masterfully  and  unswervingly  toward 
a  given  object  the  combined  gifts  of  many  minds. 

Such  master-genius  had  St.  Paul.  So  he  became, 
not  a  '^ captain  of  industry,'^  but  a  ''Captain  of 
Evangelism,"  the  supreme  statesman,  nay,  the  very 
Prime  Minister  of  early  Christianity. 

As  he  marched  to  battle  or  swept  in  triumph  over 
conquered  realms,  some  of  his  Field  Marshals  were 
ever  with  him  to  advise  in  the  council  of  war,  to 
command  in  the  hour  of  battle.  ''And  there  accom- 
panied him  into  Asia  Sopater  of  Berea;  and  of  the 
Thessalonians,  Aristarchus  and  Secundus;  and 
Gains  of  Derbe,  and  Timotheus;  and  of  Asia, 
Tychicus,  and  Trophimus." 

At  times  he  would  send  some  of  his  friends  in 
advance  to  spy  out  the  land,  do  scout  duty  and 
reconnoiter.  At  other  times  he  would  leave  them 
behind  to  complete  the  conquest  of  a  city  or  prov- 
ince where  he  had  already  won  a  decisive  victory 
in  pitched  battle.  Again  he  would  send  them  to 
distant  cities  to  settle  without  his  presence  local 
outbreaks  and  disturbances.  Now  he  would  send 
them  on  far  journeys  to  great  cities  with  important 
dispatches  and  verbal  instructions;  now  to  organize 
whole  provinces  he  had  simply  conquered  and  gar- 
risoned; and  again  he  would  send  them  forth  on 
independent  commands  to  subdue  new  regions.  But 
wheresoever  they  went,  they  went  at  his  command, 


POSTSCRIPT  263 

did  his  bidding,  carried  out  his  policies,  and  later 
returned  to  him  or  wrote  to  him  for  farther  instruc- 
tions at  every  crisis  hour.  Thus  he  held  the  post 
of  Commander-in-Chief  with  his  eye  on  every  sub- 
ordinate officer  in  the  whole  army  and  along  the 
entire  battlefront. 

We  have  already  listened  to  Paul's  boldly  an- 
nounced plan  for  the  invasion  of  Rome  and  conquest 
of  Spain.  Sweeping  were  the  combinations,  mas- 
terly the  strategy  of  this  indomitable  old  warrior. 
But  God  willed  otherwise.  He  came  to  Rome  not 
with  the  laurels  and  plaudits  of  a  victorious  General, 
but  as  a  captive  chained  to  the  chariot  wheels  of 
some  ruthless  conqueror. 

Apparently  thwarted  and  defeated,  yet  the  out- 
come was  for  the  best.  Instead  of  adding  new  ter- 
ritory to  the  realms  already  seized,  there  was  need 
of  consolidating  these,  and  such  was  to  be  the 
remaining  task  of  this  warrior-statesman.  A  march 
into  Spain  would  have  left  unguarded  and  so  im- 
periled his  earlier  conquests,  as  Napoleon's  Russian 
campaign  proved  the  undoing  of  his  previous  vic- 
tories. Paul's  plan  for  farther  advance  being 
thwarted  by  his  imprisonment,  he  at  once  set  about 
the  thorough  subjugation  of  Rome  itself,  and  the 
suppressing  of  all  revolt  in  the  distant  provinces  of 
the  East. 

Nero  regarded  himself  as  the  sole  master  of  the 
Imperial  City  and  overlord  of  the  known  world. 
But  in  one  of  his  dungeons  was  a  despised  Jew  who 
was  undermining  the  sway  of  the  Caesars  in  Rome 


264  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

itself;  and,  at  the  same  time,  founding  a  kingdom 
on  the  eastern  and  northern  shores  of  the  Mediter- 
ranean which  would  live  on  in  perennial  youth  long 
after  the  reign  of  Nero  should  be  but  a  memory. 
Over  the  Roman  highways  marched  thundering 
legions  with  the  shout  of  battle  on  their  lips.  Over 
these  same  highways  passed  the  solitary  figures  of 
young  men  whose  hearts  were  pulsating  with  a 
mighty  passion.  Their  eyes  were  fixed  on  far-off 
Rome  and  thither  their  feet  were  hastening, — not 
to  fawn  on  Imperial  favor,  not  to  seek  positions  in 
the  Roman  legions  nor  to  witness  the  sports  of  the 
amphitheatre;  but  to  counsel  with  and  receive  com- 
mands from  a  certain  Roman  prisoner,  one  Paul  of 
Tarsus,  Commander-in-Chief  of  all  the  armies  of 
Jesus  Christ,  an  ''Empire  Builder''  in  comparison 
with  whose  achievements  the  conquests  of  Alexander, 
Caesar,  and  Napoleon  sink  to  a  lower  level.  Their 
empires  have  passed  away.  That  which  he  founded 
has  spread  with  the  speeding  centuries. 

Of  this  commander's  many  Generals  and  Aides- 
de-Camp,  only  Luke  and  Aristarchus  entered  the  city 
with  him.  But  his  other  Lieutenants  left  behind  in 
the  East  joined  him  from  time  to  time.  And  so  at 
various  times  there  were  with  him,  fighting  by  his 
side  for  the  conquest  of  the  city  by  the  Tiber, 
such  soldiers  as  Eubulus,  Pudens,  Linus,  and 
Claudia;  such  Aides-de-Camp  as  Epaphroditus  and 
Onesimus;  such  Brigadiers  as  Jesus  Justus,  Demas, 
and  Onesiphorus;  such  Generals  of  Divisions  as 
Epaphras,  Tychicus,  and  Crescens;  such  Field  Mar- 


POSTSCRIPT  265 

shals  as  Timothy,  Titus,  and  Mark.  The  success  of 
these  men  fighting  by  PauFs  side  in  Rome,  is  re- 
vealed in  his  own  words  where  he  says — ''But  I 
wish  ye  should  understand,  brethren,  that  the 
things  which  happened  unto  me  have  fallen  out 
rather  unto  the  furtherance  of  the  gospel;  so  that 
my  bonds  in  Christ  are  manifest  in  all  the  palace, 
and  in  all  other  places;  and  many  of  the  brethren 
in  the  Lord,  waxing  confident  by  my  bonds,  are  much 
more  bold  to  speak  the  word  without  fear."  And 
again  he  writes  at  the  close  of  his  letter  to  the 
Philippians — "All  the  saints  salute  you,  chiefly  they 
that  are  of  Caesar's  household." 

From  PauFs  prison,  which  was  now  both  a  throne 
room  and  the  headquarters  of  a  commanding  Gen- 
eral, he  sent  forth  Tychicus  and  Onesimus  with  dis- 
patches to  Ephesus  and  Colossae ;  Epaphroditus  with 
dispatches  to  Philippi;  Timothy  he  sent  back  to 
Ephesus  to  hold  that  city  for  Christ,  Titus  to  Dal- 
matia,  Crescens  to  Galatia,  and  Mark  on  a  tour 
through  Greece  or  Asia  Minor.  And  so  in  the  Im- 
perial City,  which  from  her  Seven  Hills  ruled  the 
world,  was  another  Empire  Builder  making  grander 
conquests  for  a  grander  kingdom  than  that  ruled 
over  or  dreamed  of  by  the  Caesars. 

And  thus  by  degrees  as  the  years  came  and  went 
this  mighty  statesman  and  soldier,  with  empires 
seething  in  his  brain  and  future  generations  tugging 
at  his  heart,  by  personal  example  and  counsel  and 
by  repeatedly  trusting  his  subordinates  in  independ- 
ent commands,  so  trained  them  that  when  the  day 


266  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

came  for  him  to  lay  aside  the  shoulderstraps  forever 
there  was  a  score  of  his  lieutenants  able  to  assume 
command — he  had  made  himself  no  longer  necessary, 
the  ultimate  triumph  of  his  life  purpose  was  already 
assured. 

And  all  that  Paul  was  then  achieving  he  was 
achieving  by  the  matchless  spell  of  his  genius  for 
friendship.  Through  his  friends  he  was  holding  an 
empire  loyal  to  his  Lord.  And  so  perfectly  did  he 
train  these  friends  of  his  that  his  death  caused  no 
more  disturbance  to  the  realms  he  had  conquered 
than  did  the  death  of  Washington  to  the  welfare 
and  progress  of  the  United  States. 

This  I  deem  the  crowning  proof  of  a  man's  great- 
ness, that  at  death  he  is  no  longer  necessary  to  the 
success  of  that  to  which  he  has  devoted  all  his 
powers. 

There  are  two  classes  of  great  men  who  are  not 
supremely  great.  That  man  is  not  supremely  great, 
however  much  he  may  achieve  in  life,  who  leaves  a 
completed  work  at  his  death  with  nothing  remaining 
to  call  forth  the  loyalty  and  labors  of  other  men. 
Such  a  life  work  is  at  best  either  of  small  signifi- 
cance, or  of  but  temporary  value  to  mankind.  Nor 
is  that  other  man  supremely  great,  however  much 
he  may  achieve  and  plan  in  life,  if,  at  his  death, 
he  does  not  leave  behind  trained  successors  to  go 
forward  with  his  work  as  though  he  were  still  pres- 
ent with  them.  The  work  of  such  men,  however 
stupendous  and  dazzling,  and  their  plans,  however 
far-reaching  and  beneficent,  topple  over  when  they 


POSTSCRIPT  267 

are  no  longer  present  to  direct  and  inspire.  They 
lack  an  essential,  an  indispensable,  element  of  great- 
ness; that  element  without  which  all  others  fail  of 
lasting  significance,  the  ability  to  so  recognize 
-ability  in  others,  and  so  enlist  that  ability  in  their 
own  life  work  that,  when  dead,  their  works  shall 
follow  them  on  through  the  coming  tides  of  time. 

He  is  the  supremely  great  man  who  brings  his 
own  individual  work  to  a  well-rounded  close,  yet 
who  at  the  same  time  leaves  a  grandly,  a  divinely 
■unfinished  work  for  his  friends  and  after  generations 
to  carry  on  and  perfect.  He  is  the  man  who  has 
planned  so  broadly  that  it  will  take  all  time  to 
achieve  his  dreams;  and  yet  who  has  planned  so 
exactly,  and  trained  others  so  splendidly,  that  he 
can  complete  his  part  of  the  whole  and  then  pass 
on  to  his  reward  without  being  missed.  Such  a 
man  was  the  Apostle  Paul. 

And  so  he  gave  proof  of  the  loftiest  statesman- 
ship of  genius  and  of  service.  And  his  ability  to 
achieve  these  things  was  through  his  genius  for 
friendship.  He  had  neither  position,  wealth,  nor 
fame  to  offer  men.  But  he  gave  them  what  was 
better — his  heart.  He  honored  them  with  badges 
of  distinction  high  above  all  decorations  monarchs 
can  bestow — a  share  in  his  labors  and  perils.  And 
the  finest  ability  of  the  choicest  young  men  of  that 
age  gathered  about  his  standard;  and  when  his 
slackened  hand  let  go  the  flagstaff,  the  banner  he 
had  so  long  held  aloft  still  flung  forth  its  ample  folds 
-mthout  a  tremor,  shining  afar  on  every  breeze  that 


268  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

blew.  And  so  it  was  that  few  realized  the  event 
when  the  old  warrior  entered  into  his  rest. 

The  fact  that  Paul  thus  planned  a  work  Avhieh 
only  time  could  consummate,  proves  that  he  had 
entered  into  something  of  the  counsels  and  purposes 
of  Providence,  which  reach  on  from  generation  to 
generation. 

In  this  matter  of  his  life  work,  as  in  so  many 
other  ways,  Paul  was  like  his  divine  Lord  and  Mas- 
ter. Christ  could  say  in  his  prayer  the  night  of  his 
betrayal — ''I  have  finished  the  work  thou  gavest 
me  to  do."  And  on  the  Cross  he  could  say  ''It  is 
finished."  Yet  only  a  few  men  then  believed  on 
his  name,  only  a  little  seed  had  been  sown,  Chris- 
tianity had  but  just  been  born;  undiscovered  con- 
tinents, teeming  millions,  had  never  heard  his  name 
and  would  not  hear  it  for  sixty  generations  yet  to 
come.  What,  then,  mean  those  words  "it  is  fin- 
ished?" Two  things  they  mean; — that  Christ's 
individual  work  in  the  world  was  done;  and  that 
his  plans  for  all  subsequent  ages  had  been  given  to 
the  world,  and  the  work  of  achieving  these  entrusted 
to  those  whom  he  now  no  longer  called  "servants 
but  friends,  because  all  things  that  he  had  heard 
of  the  Father  he  had  made  known  unto  them." 
The  physical  presence  of  Christ  was  no  longer 
necessary  to  his  friends,  his  work,  or  mankind.  He 
himself  had  said  "it  is  expedient  for  you  that  I  go 
away."  The  work  would  go  on  without  him.  He 
was  now  unnecessary  to  its  success.     He  had  built 


POSTSCRIPT  269 

with  the  master  genius,  the  divine  genius  of  the 
Son  of  God. 

How  like  him  was  St.  Paul  in  his  life  and  work 
and  friendships.  In  his  dying  hour  Paul  too  could 
«ay — "For  I  am  now  ready  to  be  offered,  and  the 
time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand.  I  have  fought  a 
good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept 
the  faith. ' '  And  Paul  meant  by  this  precisely  what 
€hrist  meant  by  his  words  on  the  Cross.  He  had 
finished  his  individual  work,  and  his  plans  for  evan- 
gelizing the  known  world  had  been  fully  made  and 
were  now  confidently  entrusted  to  his  friends  who 
were  prepared  to  go  on  with  them  without  his 
farther  instructions  or  supervision.  Paul  had  made 
himself  unnecessary  to  the  world.  And  so  Paul  was 
the  consummate  statesman,  the  supreme  construc- 
tive genius — he  finished  his  own  work;  rounded  out 
his  own  career;  and  yet,  at  the  same  time,  had  but 
laid  the  foundations  of  that  splendid  cathedral  for 
the  Divine  habitation  among  men,  which  it  would 
take  all  the  after  generations  to  complete.  But  he 
had  drawn  the  plans  for  the  entire  structure,  given 
others  a  glimpse  of  its  ultimate  radiancy  of  glory, 
and  trained  them  to  be  themselves  master-builders. 

He  was  no  Napoleon  whose  work  would  topple 
over  even  before  his  own  death.  He  was  a  Wash- 
ington, whose  services  to  mankind  only  millenniums 
could  perfect,  yet  whose  death  caused  not  a  quiver 
to  the  structure  he  had  begun  to  rear.  To  employ 
and  adapt  the  language  used  by  Napoleon  of  a  man 


270  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

of  his  day — or  by  a  contemporary  of  Napoleon  him- 
self, history  reports  both  ways — ''There  was  a  time 
when  the  death  of  St.  Paul  would  have  been  an 
event;  when  it  did  occur,  it  was  only  a  piece  of 
news/'  His  friends  and  lieutenants  had  been  so 
trained  in  many  a  hard  fought  campaign  by  the 
personal  example  and  under  the  eye  of  their  im- 
perial leader  that  when  at  last  he  fell  at  his  post^ 
dying  a  soldier's  death,  there  was  not  a  break  in 
the  line  anywhere;  his  Field  Marshals,  Generals, 
and  Captains  could  now  carry  on  the  war  and  win 
the  victory  without  the  ''little  corporal"  of  Tarsus. 

And  so  the  friends  and  friendships  of  St.  Paul 
which  so  comforted  his  own  heart,  and  so  enriched 
his  own  life  and  theirs,  have  also  enriched 
the  world  for  the  nineteen  centuries  which  have 
fled,  and  shall  go  on  enriching  the  life  of  men  till 
time  itself  grows  gray  and  there  dawns  at  last  the 
unspeakable  splendor  of  the  millennial  dawn.  "When 
in  that  day  men  see  the  Holy  City,  the  new  Jerusa- 
lem, coming  down  from  God  out  of  heaven,  prepared 
as  a  bride  adorned  for  her  husband,  then,  and  then 
only,  will  they  be  able  to  comprehend  and  compute 
the  world  significance  of  St.  Paul's  genius  for  friend- 
ship,— the  unmined,  unmeasured,  unminted  wealth 
of  his  heart's  riches. 

Here  is  the  supreme  evidence  of  Paul's  genius  as 
a  constructive  statesman,  as  well  as  matchless 
friend  and  peerless  General  and  strategist.  The 
final  test  of  Moses's  greatness  did  not  come  until 


POSTSCRIPT  271 

after  his  death;  then  it  was  vindicated  by  the  fact 
that  his  successor  could  go  on  with  his  plans  with- 
out break  or  pause.  So  was  vindicated  the  real 
greatness  of  John  Wesley  and  in  our  day  of  Frances 
E.  Willard.  The  final  test  of  Gen.  Booth's  claim 
to  imperial  achievement  will  come  only  when  it  has 
been  seen  whether  he  has  trained  others  to  fill  his 
place  and  carry  on  his  life  mission  without  a  jar 
when  he  shall  have  been  summoned  into  the  pres- 
ence of  his  Maker. 

Let  us  now  ask  ourselves  one  or  two  most  signifi- 
cant questions:  How  much  would  be  left  of  the 
record  of  Paul's  achievements  if  we  could  cut  out 
from  his  career  the  names  and  deeds  of  all  his 
friends  and  all  that  he  himself  wrought  through 
them?  And  what  would  their  records  be  had  they 
never  been  thrilled,  inspired,  and  directed  by  his 
genius  and  passion  for  the  spread  of  the  Gospel? 
None  can  say,  none  can  answer  these  baffling 
queries. 

When  it  came  to  pass  that  Israel's  mighty  prophet 
Elijah  was  to  be  translated  there  was  found  by 
diligent  search  just  one  man  who  was  capable  of 
catching  up  his  mantle  and  going  forward  with  his 
life  mission.  When  Paul's  change  came  not  one 
only,  but  a  score  of  the  loftiest  characters  of  his 
generation  stood  ready  to  receive  his  mantle  and 
prolong  and  hand  on  his  mission;  to  command 
armies  or  organize  and  administer  the  affairs  of 
cities  and  provinces, — and  so  his  death  was  not  an 
**  event,"  but  merely  a  *  Apiece  of  news." 


272  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

Surely  next  to  his  Divine  Lord  and  Master  this 
man  is  the  world's  supreme  exemplar  of  every  high 
attribute  which  we  associate  with  that  sacred 
word — ^Friendship. 


APPENDIX 


Alphabetical  list  of  Paul's  friends  and  those  to 
whom  he  sent  individual  greetings  in  his  letters, 
together  with  all  Scripture  references  to  each  save  to 
Peter  and  John,  and  James,  the  Lord's  brother. 

1.  Achaicus— I  Cor.  16 :17. 

2.  Agabus— Acts  21:10-11. 

3.  Amplias — Rom.  16:8. 

4.  Andronicus — Rom.  16:7. 

5.  Apelles — Rom.  16:10. 

6.  ApoUos— Acts  18  :24,  19  :1 ;  I  Cor.  1 :12,  3 :4-22, 

4:6,  16:12,  and  Titus  3:13. 

7.  Apphia— Phm.  1:2. 

8.  Archippus— Col.  4:17,  and  Phm.  1:2. 

9.  Aristarchus— Acts    19:29,    20:4-5,    27:1-2,    Col. 

4:10,  and  Phm.  1:24. 

10.  Aristobulus— Rom.  16:10. 

11.  Artemus— Tit.  3  :12. 

12.  Asyncritus — Rom.  16:14. 

13.  Barnabas— Acts     4:36-37,     9:26-27,     11:22-30, 

12:25,  13:1-50,  14:1-28,  15:1-39,  I  Cor.  9:4-6, 
Gal.  2:1-13,  and  Col.  4:10. 

14.  Carpus— 2nd  Tim.  4:13. 

15.  Cephas— Acts  15:6-7,  22,  25. 

16.  Claudia— 2nd  Tim.  4:21. 

273 


274  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

17.  Clement— Phil.  4:3. 

18.  Crescens— 2nd  Tim.  4:10. 

19.  Crispus— Acts  18 :8,  I  Cor.  1 :14. 

20.  Damaris— Acts  17:34. 

21.  Demas— Col.  4:14,  Phm.  1:24,  2nd  Tim.  4:10. 

22.  Dionysius— Acts  17:34. 

23.  Epaphras— Col.  1:7-8,  4:12-13,  Phm.  1:23. 

24.  Epaphroditus— Phil.  2:25-30,  4:18. 

25.  Epenetus — Rom.  16:5. 

26.  Erastus  1st— Acts  19 :22,  2nd  Tim.  4 :20. 

27.  Erastus  2nd— Rom.  16 :23. 

28.  Eubulus— 2nd  Tim.  4:21. 

29.  Fortunatus— I  Cor.  16:17. 

30.  Gains  1st— Acts  19 :29. 

31.  Gains  2nd— Acts  20 :4. 

32.  Gains  3rd— Rom.  16 :23,  I  Cor.  1 :14. 

33.  Hermas— Rom.  16:14. 

34.  Hermes— Rom.  16:14. 

35.  Hermogenes — 2nd  Tim.  1:15. 

36.  Herodion— Rom.  16:11. 

37.  James— Acts  15  :6,  13,  14,  22,  25. 

38.  Jason  1st— Acts  17:5-9. 

39.  Jason  2nd— Rom.  16 :21. 

40.  Jesus  Justus — Col.  4:11. 

41.  John— Acts  15 :6,  22,  25. 

42.  Julia— Rom.  16:15. 

43.  Julius— Acts  27 :1,  3,  43. 

44.  Junia— Rom.  16:7. 

45.  Justus— Acts  18:7. 

46.  Linus— 2nd  Tim.  4:21. 


APPENDIX  275 

47.  Lucius  1st — Acts  13 :1. 

48.  Lucius  2nd— Rom.  16:21. 

49.  Luke— Acts    16:10-17,    20:5-15,    21:1-18,    27:1, 

28:16,  Luke  1:1-4,  Acts  1:1-4,  Col.  4:14,  2nd 
Tim.  4 :11,  and  Phm.  1 :24. 

50.  Lydia— Acts  16 :14-15  and  40. 

51.  Manaen — Acts  13:1. 

52.  Mark— Acts  12:12,  25,  13:5,  13,  15:36-39,  Col. 

4:10,  2nd  Tim.  4:11,  Phm.  1:24,  1st  Pet.  5:13. 

53.  Mary— Rom.  16:6. 

54.  Mnason — Acts  21:16. 

55.  Narcissus — Rom.  16:11. 

56.  Nereus — Rom.  16:15. 

57.  Nymphas— Col.  4:15. 

58.  Olympas— Rom.  16:15. 

59.  Onesimus— Col.  4 :9,  Phm.  1 :10-21. 

60.  Onesiphorus— 2nd  Tim.  1 :16-18,  4 :19. 

61.  Patrobus — Rom.  16:14. 

62.  Persis— Rom.  16:12. 

63.  Phebe— Rom.  16:1-2. 

64.  Philemon— Phm.  1:1-25. 

65.  Philip— Acts  6 :5-6,  8  :5-40,  21 :8-10. 

66.  Philologus— Rom.  16:15. 

67.  Phlegon— Rom.  16:14. 

68.  Phygellus— 2nd  Tim.  1 :15. 

69-70.     Aquila   and   PrisciUa— Acts   18:1-3,   18,   26, 
Rom.  16:3-5,  I  Cor.  16:19,  2nd  Tim.  4:19. 

71.  Publius— Acts  28:7-8. 

72.  Pudens— 2nd  Tim.  4:21. 

73.  Quartus— Rom.  16:23. 


276  SAINT  PAULAS  FRIENDSHIPS 

74.  Rufus— Rom.  16:13. 

75.  Secundus— Acts  20  A. 

76.  Silas  (Silvanus)— Acts  chs.  15,  16,  17  and  18, 

2nd  Cor.  1:19,  I  Thes.  1:1,  2nd  Thes.  1:1, 
I  Pet.  5 :12. 

77.  Simeon — Acts  13  :1. 

78.  Sopater— Acts  20 :4. 

79.  Sosipater— Rom.  16 :21. 

80.  Sosthenes— I  Cor.  1 :1. 

81.  Stachys— Rom.  16:9. 

82.  Stephanas—I  Cor.  1:16,  16:15-17. 

83.  Tertius— Rom.  16:22. 

84.  Timothy— Acts  16  :1,  20 :24,  Rom.  16 :21,  I  Cor. 

4:17,  16:10-11,  2nd  Cor.  1:1  and  19,  Phil.  1:1 
and  2:19-23,  Col.  1:1-5,  I  Thes.  1:1,  3:2-6, 
2nd  Thes.  1  :l-2,  Phm.  1  :l-3,  books  of  1st  and 
2nd  Tim.  Heb.  13 :23. 

85.  Titus— 2nd  Cor.  2  :12,  13,  7  :5-17,  8 :! -24,  12 :18, 

Gal.  2  :l-4,  2nd  Tim.  4 :10,  Epistle  to  Tit. 

86.  Trophimus— Acts  20 :4,  21 :29,  2nd  Tim.  4 :20. 

87.  Tryphena— Rom.  16:12. 

88.  Tryphosa— Rom.  16:12. 

89.  Tychicus— Acts  20:4,  Eph.  6:21-22,  Col.  4:7-9, 

2nd  Tim.  4:12,  Titus  3:12. 

90.  Tyrannus— Acts  19:9. 

91.  Urbane— Rom.  16:9. 

92.  Zenas— Titus  3:13. 

Other  Friends  Whose  Names  Are  Not  Recorded 

The  Philippian  jailer— Acts  16 :27-37. 
Chief  men  of  Asia — Acts  19  :30,  31. 


APPENDIX  277 


Disciples— Acts  21 :4-7. 
The  Melitans— Acts  28 :10. 
Puteoli  Brethren— Acts  28  :14,  15. 
A  Brother— 2nd  Cor.  8 :18-22. 
Philippian  Women — Phil.  4 :3. 
Mother  of  Rufus— Rom.  16 :13. 
Sister  of  Nereus — Rom.  16:15. 


n 


Domestic  Terms  Used  by  Paul  in  Referring  to 
His  Friends 

1.  His    ''Mother"— The    mother    of    Rufus— Rom. 

16:13. 

2.  His  ''Sister^- Phebe— Rom.  16:1. 

3.  His  ''Brothers"— 1.     Quartus— Rom.  16:23. 

2.  Sosthenes— I  Cor.  1:1. 

3.  ApoUos— I  Cor.  16:12. 

4.  Tychicus— Eph.  6:21. 

5.  Epaphroditns— Phil.  2:25. 

6.  Philemon— 1 :7. 

4.  His  "  Sons '  '—1.     Onesimus— Phm.  1 :10. 

2.  Timothy— I   Tim.  1:2. 

3.  Titus— Ti.  1:4. 

His    "Little    Children  "—All    the    Galatians— 

Gal.  4:19. 
His    "Beloved    Sons" — All    the    Corinthians — 

I  Cor.  4:14. 

5.  He  himself  was  a  "Nurse"— I  Thes.  2:7. 


278 


SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 


6.  He  * 'travailed  in  birth''  as  a  mother — Gal.  4:19. 
He  was  as  a  ''Father"  to  the  Thessalonians — 

I  Thes.  2 :11. 
He  had  as  a  "Father  begotten"  the  Corinthians — 
I  Cor.  4:15. 

7.  He  had  given  in  marriage — 2nd  Cor.  11 :2. 

Ill 

Those  to  Whom  Paul  Applied  the  Word  ^^ Fellow/' 
in  the  Sense  of  Partner  or  Sharer 

1.     "Fellow  Laborers" — 1.     Clement  and  others — 


2. 


4. 


Phil.  4:3. 

2. 

Timothy— I  Thes.  3  :2. 

3. 

Philemon— Phm.  1:1. 

4. 

Mark— Phm.  1:24. 

5. 

Aristarchus — Phm.l  :24 

6. 

Demas— Phm.  1:24. 

7. 

Luke— Phm.  1:24. 

Fellow  Prisoners '  '- 

-1. 

Andronieus — Rom.  16 :7 

2. 

Junia — Rom.  16:7. 

3. 

Aristarchus — Col.  4 :10. 

4. 

Epaphras— Phm.  1:23. 

Fellow  Servants  "- 

-1. 

Epaphras— Col.  1:7. 

2. 

Tychicus— Col.  4:7. 

Fellow    Soldiers  "- 

-1. 

Epaphroditus — 

Phil.  2:25. 

2. 

Archippus — Phm.    1 :2. 

Fellow  Workers  "- 

-1. 

Aristarchus — 

Col.  4:10-11. 

2. 

Mark     Col.  4:10-11. 

3. 

Justus— Col.  4:10-11. 

APPENDIX  279 

IV 

Some  of  the  Cities,  Provinces,  Continents,  and  Races 
Represented  Among  Paul's  Friends 

1.  Cities — 1.     Damascus  by  Disciples — Acts  9 :22-25. 

2.  Antioch  by  Simeon — Acts  13:1. 

3.  Jerusalem  by  Silas — Acts  15 :22. 

4.  Thyatira  by  Lydia — Acts  16 :14. 

5.  Philippi  by  the  Jailor— Acts  16 :27-34. 

6.  Athens  by  Dionysius — Acts  17 :34. 

7.  Thessalonica  by  Secundus — Acts  20 :4 

8.  Berea  by  Sox)ater — Acts  20 :4. 

9.  Derbe  by  Gains— Acts  20 :4. 

10.  Ephesus  by  the  Elders— Acts  20 :17-34 

11.  Tyre  by  whole  families — Acts  21.3-5. 

12.  Cenchrea  by  Phebe— Rom.  16 :1. 

13.  Corinth  by  Fortunatus— I  Cor.  16 :17. 

14.  Colossae  by  Onesimus — Col.  4:9. 

15.  Rome  by  Linus — 2nd  Tim.  4 :21. 

2.  Islands — 1.     Cyprus  by  Barnabas — Acts  4:36. 

2.     Melita  by  Publius— Acts  28 :7. 

3.  Countries — 1.     Judea  by  Apostles  and  Elders — 

Acts  15  :23-26. 

2.  Macedonia  by  Aristarchus — Acts 

19 :29. 

3.  Province  of  Asia  by  Tychicus — 

Acts  20:4. 

4.  Italy  by  Brethren— Acts  28 :15. 

5.  Achaia    by   Stephanas — 1st   Cor. 

16:15. 


280  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

4.  Races — 1.     Jew  and  Greek  mixed  by  Timothy — 

Acts  16:1-3. 

2.  Roman  by  Publius— Acts  28:7. 

3.  Jews  by  Andronicus — Rom.  16  :7. 

4.  Greek  by  Titus— Gal.  2 :3. 

5.  Continents~l.     Asia  by  Mark — Acts  12 :12, 13 :5. 

2.  Africa  by  Apollos — Acts  18 :24. 

3.  Europe  by  Eubulus — 2nd  Tim. 

4:21. 

V 

Three  Men  Whom  Paul  Associated  With  Himself  in 
the  Authorship  of  Some  of  His  Letters 

1.  Sosthenes — I  Cor.  1:1. 

2.  Timothy— 2nd  Cor.   1:1,   Phil.   1:1,  Col.   1:1,  I 

Thes.  1 :1,  2nd  Thes.  1 :1 . 

3.  Silas— I  Thes.  1 :1,  2nd  Thes.  1 :1. 

VI 

Three  Men  Who  Deserted  Paul 

1.  Phygellus— 2nd  Tim.  2 :15. 

2.  Hermo genes — 2nd  Tim.  2 :15. 

3.  Demas— 2nd  Tim.  4 :10. 

VII 

Some    Who   Aided   Paul    in   Founding   His    Great 
Churches 

1.  Churches  in  Cyprus — Barnabas  and  Mark — Acts 

13:1-13. 

2.  Churches  in  Antioch  of  Pisidia,  Iconium,  Lystra, 

and  Derbe — Barnabas — Acts  13:14 — 14:28. 


APPENDIX  281 

3.  Churches   of   Phrygia    and    Galatia — Silas    and 

Timothy— Acts  15 :40,  16 :8. 

4.  Church  at  Philippi — Silas,  Timothy,  and  Luke — 

Acts  16:8-40. 

5.  Churches  at  Thessalonica  and  Berea — Silas  and 

Timothy— Acts  17 :1-15. 

6.  Church  at  Corinth — Silas,  Timothy,  and  Aquila 

and  Priscilla — Acts  18 :1-17. 

7.  Church  at  Ephesus — Aquila  and  Priscilla — Acts 

18:18,  19:10. 

Timothy— Acts  19:22. 

Erastus— Acts  19:22. 

Aristarchus — Acts  19 :29. 

Gains— Acts  19 :29. 

Titus— 2nd  Cor.  12:18. 
(Refers  to  time  Paul  at  Eph.) 

Apollos— I  Cor.  16:12. 
(Refers  to  time  Paul  at  Eph.) 

VIII 

Some  Friends  Who  Saved  Paul's  Life  on  Various 
Occasions 

1.  At  Damascus — Acts  9  :24,  25. 

2.  At  Jerusalem— Acts  9 :28-30. 

3.  At  Thessalonica — Acts  17:10. 

4.  At  Ephesus— Acts  19 :29-31. 

5.  Again  at  Jerusalem — Acts  23:12-24. 

6.  At  Melita— Acts  27 :42,  43. 

7.  By  Aquila  and  Priscilla — Rom.  16:3-4. 


282  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

IX 

Some  of  Those  Who  Journeyed  With  Paul  on  His 
Various  Missionary  Tours 

1.  Barnabas — Acts  13 :2. 

2.  Mark— Acts  13:5. 

3.  Silas— Acts  15 :40. 

4.  Timothy— Acts  16:1. 

5.  Luke— Acts  16:10. 

6-7.     Aquiaa  and  Priscilla— Acts  18 :18. 

8.  Erastus— Acts  19:22. 

9.  Gains- Acts  19 :29. 

10.  Aristarchus— Acts  19:29. 

11.  Sopater— Acts  20 :4. 

12.  Secundus— Acts  20:4. 

13.  Gains  of  Derbe— Acts  20 :4. 

14.  Tychicns— Acts  20 :4. 

15.  Trophimns— Acts  20:4. 

16.  Titns— Gal,  2 :1. 

X 

Some  of  Those  Paul  Sent  on  Special  Missions 

1.  Erastns— Acts  19 :22. 

2.  Timothy— Acts  19:22. 

3.  Phebe— Rom.  16:1. 

4.  Titns— 2nd  Cor.  8:16,  18. 

5.  Tychicns- Eph.  6:21,  22. 

6.  Epaphroditns— Phil.  2:25. 

7.  Epaphras— Col.  4:8. 

8.  Onesimns — Col.  4:9. 

9.  Crescens— 2nd  Tim.  4:10. 


APPENDIX  283 

XI 

Some  of  Those  Who  Labored  With  Paul  Anywhere 

1.  Barnabas — Acts  13:1. 

2.  Simeon — Acts  13:1. 

3.  Lucius — Acts  13:1. 

4.  Manaen — Acts  13:1. 

5.  Mark— Acts  13 :5. 

6.  Silas— Acts  15:40. 

7.  Timothy— Acts  16:1. 

8.  Erastus— Acts  19:22. 

9-10.     Priscilla  and  Aquila— Acts  18:18,  19. 

11.  Urbane— Rom.  16:9. 

12.  ApoUos— I  Cor.  16 :12. 

13.  Titus— 2nd  Cor.  8 :23. 

14.  Epaphroditus— Phil.  2:25. 

15.  Clement— Phil.  4:3. 

16.  Tychicus— Col.  4:7. 

17.  Jesus  Justus — Col.  4 :11. 

18.  Philemon— Phm.  1:1. 

19.  Onesimus— Phm.  1:13. 

20.  Aristarchus— Phm.  1:24. 

21.  Demas— Phm.  1 :24. 

22.  Luke— Phm.  1:24. 

23.  Onesiphorus— 2nd  Tim.   1:16-18. 

XII 
Some  Whose  Merit  Paul  Specially  Praised 

1.  Phebe— Rom.  16  :l-2. 

2.  Aquila  and  Priscilla — Rom.  16:3-4. 

3.  Apelles— Rom.  16:10. 

4.  Tryphena— Rom.  16:12. 


284  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

5.  Tryphosa— Rom.  16:12. 

6.  Persis— Rom.  16:12. 

7.  Titus— 2nd  Cor.  8 :16,  17. 

8.  Tychicus— Eph.  6:21. 

9.  Timothy— Phi'l.  2:19-22. 

10.  Epaphroditus— Phil.  2:30. 

11.  Epaphras— Col.  1:7. 

12.  Onesimus— Col.  4:10. 

13.  Onesiphorus— 2nd  Tim.  1 :16-18. 

14.  Mark— 2nd  Tim.  4:11. 

XIII 

Different    Social    Classes    and    Professions    Among 
Whom  Paul  Made  Friends 

1.  Missionary — Barnabas — Acts  13 :2. 

2.  Apostles — Peter,  James  and  others — ^Acts  15:6. 

3.  Jailor—at  Philippi— Acts  16 :33,  34. 

4-5.     Tentmakers  —  Aquila     and     Priscilla  —  Acts 
18:1-3. 

6.  Ruler  of  Synagogue — Crispus — Acts  18:8. 

7.  Evangelist— Philip— Acts  21:8. 

8.  Prophet— Agabus— Acts  21 :10-11. 

9.  Roman  Centurion — Julius — Acts  27  :1,  42,  43. 

10.  Chief  Man  of  Melita— Publius— Acts  28:7. 

11.  Chamberlain  of  Corinth — Erastus — Rom.  16:23. 

12.  Physician- Luke— Col.  4:14. 

13.  Minister— Archippus— Col.  4:17,  Phm.  1:1-3. 

14.  Lawyer — Zenas — Titus  3 :13. 

15.  Slaveholder— Philemon— Phm.  1:10. 

16.  Slave — Onesimus — Phm.  1:10. 

17.  Author— Mark — 2nd  Tim.  4 :11,  and  his  Gospel. 


APPENDIX  285 

XIV 

Some  of  His  Kinsmen  Who  Were  His  Friends 

1.  His  Sister's  Son— Acts  23:16. 

2.  Andronicus — Rom.  16:7. 

3.  Junia — Rom.  16:7. 

4.  Herodion — Rom.  16:11. 

5.  Lucius — Rom.  16:21. 

6.  Jason— Rom.  16:21. 

7.  Sosipater— Rom.  16 :21. 

XV 

Some  Whom  Paul  Referred  to  in  Terms  of  Strong 
Affection 

1.  Epenetus — Rom.  16:5. 

2.  Amplias — Rom.  16:8. 

3.  Stachys— Rom.  16:9. 

4.  Persis— Rom.  16:12. 

5.  Epaphras — Col.  1:7. 

6.  Onesimus — Col.  4:9. 

7.  Luke— Col.  4:14. 

8.  Tychicus— Eph.  6 :21. 

9.  Timothy— 2nd  Tim.  1:2. 

10.  Philemon— Phm.  1:1. 

11.  Apphia— Phm.  1:2. 

XVI 

Some  of  Those  Who  Received  Paul  Into  Their  Homes 

1.  Lydia— Acts  16 :15. 

2.  Philippian  Jailor— Acts  16  :33,  34. 

3.  Jason— Acts  17:7. 


286  SAINT  PAUL'S  FRIENDSHIPS 

4-5.     Aquila  and  Priscilla — Acts  18  :l-3. 

6.  Justus— Acts  18:7. 

7.  Disciples  of  Tyre— Acts  21:4. 

8.  Brethren  at  Ptolemais — Acts  21:7. 

9.  Philip— Acts  21 :8. 

10.  Mnason— Acts  21 :16. 

11.  Publius— Acts  28 :7. 

12.  Brethren  of  Puteoli— Acts  28 :13,  14. 

13.  Gains— Rom.  16:23. 

XVII 

Some,  in  Addition  to  All  the  Above,  Who  Showed 
Paul  Personal  Kindnesses 

1.  Barnabas— Acts  9 :  26,  27. 

2.  Julius— Acts  27 :3. 

3.  The  Melitans— Acts  28 :2. 

4.  Phebe— Rom.  16:1-2. 

5.  Mary— Rom.  16:6. 

6.  The  Mother  of  Rufus— Rom.  16 :13. 

7.  Tertius— Rom.  16 :22. 

8.  Epaphroditus— Phil.  2:25. 

9.  Onesiphorus— 2nd  Tim.  1 :16-18. 
10.  Carpus— 2nd  Tim.  4:13. 

XVIII 

Those  at  Rome  at  Any  Time  With  Paul  the  Prisoner 

1.  Tychicus— Eph.  6:21. 

2.  Timothy— Phil.  2:19. 

3.  Epaphroditus— Phil.  4:18. 

4.  Epaphras— Col.  1:7-8. 

5.  Jesus  Justus — Col.  4:11. 


APPENDIX  287 


6.  Onesimus— Phm.  1 :10-13. 

7.  Mark— Phm.  1 :24. 

8.  Aristarchus — Phm.  1 :24. 

9.  Demas— Phm.  1;24. 

10.  Luke— Phm.  1:24. 

11.  Onesiphorus— 2nd  Tim.  1 :16-18. 

12.  Crescens— 2nd  Tim.  4:10. 

13.  Titus— 2nd  Tim.  4:10. 

14.  Eubulus— 2nd  Tim.  4:21. 

15.  Pudens— 2nd  Tim.  4:21. 

16.  Linus— 2nd  Tim.  4:21. 

17.  Claudia— 2nd  Tim.  4 :21. 


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